


Loose Ends

by Izzu



Series: A chance for unlikely events [2]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Gen, I really mean it about the grey areas, Lotsa people in the grey area, Might have unexpected fluff somewhere, no one's purely black and white
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-25
Updated: 2018-12-08
Packaged: 2019-05-28 08:02:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 28
Words: 35,740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15044348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Izzu/pseuds/Izzu
Summary: Markus's peaceful protest had just come to a successful end. Still, it would be too soon to call it a complete victory. Until all of the loose ends were resolved, they shouldn't drop their guards yet.





	1. Son

**Author's Note:**

> Have to say that this was completely random... but atm I was stumped on my current Geass fic and these random Detroit ideas had to sneak in around these time so unh... here goes.
> 
> First thing first, while this piece was influenced by the best ending version for Connor's plot, any subsequent shorts after this that may reference the early bits of plots from the game would mostly be based on Bryan Dechart's first playthrough. Since unh... my brain was kinda also plotting to do a longer project on this fandom after this, but I'll leave that for later. I still have tons of stuff I need to finish before committing to another project.

_"I'll be waiting at the Chicken Feed... just in case. No matter what the results afterwards—though I doubt that failure was even an option for you right now with this many androids with you—if you think that you had nowhere to go, even with those android friends you recently befriended; you know that you'll always have a home with me."_

Lieutenant Hank Anderson shivered slightly, as he wrapped his arms around himself. What was he doing right now? Waiting by himself... at this now _abandoned_ joint. Even more in this kind of weather right now.

Hank glanced up towards the sky.

Snow. It's kind of ironic for the snow storm to get even worse now. As if it was aware of what kind of an eventful day  _tonight_  turned out to be. What's with the Android revolution—in which it would've affected the course of human history from now on. And what was he doing?

In part... despite himself being a human, he had a hand in helping out the androids in achieving their goals. By saving Connor— _his_ Connor—from the Cyberlife's other copy of the boy, he'd allowed that twerp to free the thousands of androids at the Cyberlife Tower, thus overturning the odds that had been placed towards Markus's group. And that, in turn, had also saved the rest of the androids that were almost about to be destroyed in the many camps that had been set up all over the city.

Still, what was he doing right now? Waiting... for that _twerp_ to come back to him. As if it was already pre-determined—he wasn't even sure that Connor would come back to him, or even _want_ to. _I mean... he's **free** now, he could have chosen to be with anyone he wanted!_

Connor was no longer tied to Cyberlife... the DPD... or even _him_ , that twerp had no more obligation to be with him now that he broke free from his programming.

Yet, why was he still hoping that the twerp would come back to him now? Was it because the kid had kept following him around so consistently that now he's loath to _not_ have the kid around him anymore?

_What a joke..._

To think that he— _Hank Anderson_ —would become so attached to some goofy looking android, of all things!

_"Is there anything you'd like to know about me?"_

_"Why did they make you look so goofy and give you that weird voice?"_

_"Cyberlife androids are designed to work harmoniously with humans. Both my appearance and voice were specifically designed to facilitate my integration."_

_"Well, they fucked up."_

Hank snorted to himself as he recalled that exchange he used to have with Connor here. Back then, Connor used to give him that shit explanation as to why he looked and sounded the way he did. Now that he thought of it, he wondered if that was the _only_ reason that Connor was designed that way.

Fowler once told him that the reason why Connor was assigned to him was just due to the fact he was the only one _unfortunate_ enough to be given this assignment that no one else would've wanted to take. But somehow, he wondered if that was a _complete_ truth. Or was there more about it that he wasn't aware of?

What if Cyberlife had _specifically_ chosen _him_ to be partnered with their RK800 android so that he could help do their dirty work together with his _plastic_ partner? What if, Connor's appearance was specifically designed to appeal to _him_ in order to make sure that he would not refuse to be partnered together with their deviant hunter android and do their damn job?

What were the odds of something like that happening?

_Cole._

Have to say that ever since Connor was being paired with him he couldn't stop thinking of his little boy. Not that he hadn't stop thinking of Cole _before_ that but—once in a while, during their investigation... as well as the few times they had talked to each other outside of work-related jobs—sometimes, a few random thoughts had come to his mind whenever Connor was around. Ridiculous kinds of thoughts like—if Cole had still been alive now, would he look like how Connor had looked? If Cole was still alive... and maybe, also end up becoming a policeman like him... would Cole turn out becoming a detective that was like Connor?

It was a silly thought—for him to project Cole's image onto Connor, but somehow things turned out that way. As much as he used to hate that piece of plastic before... he ended up getting _attached_ to that kid. More than he would want to admit. Well, Connor's cute after all... and Sumo liked him... and Connor had seemed to somehow fill up the hole inside his heart that had used to be filled with _remorse_ and _regret_ over the fact that he couldn't save his baby boy.

Without knowing, Connor had become someone that he'd grown attached to and one... he didn't want to see broken— _hurt_ —or be destroyed. Or should he say... _died?_ Somehow the thought of such thing to happen to Connor felt as bad as if it had been Cole. To be put in such a situation.

Did Cyberlife... somehow _planned_ for that to happen _too_ , so that he'd grow to be attached to Connor? To make Connor look so much like how Cole _could have been_ —to make sure that he wouldn't just decide to ditch the android aside and not comply with their intention to have him and Connor go around hunting these deviant androids?

_That somehow made it an even more sinister thought..._

Hank snorted again. What was he doing? Connor might as well not even bothered coming here anyway...

SCRUNCH!

His ears suddenly caught another sound coming from another direction and the sound had grown in repetition in a steady beat. Hank turned around to see Connor, steadily walking towards him. Connor paused for a while before giving him a lopsided smile.

Hank couldn't help smiling as well. How could he even think that this boy would even stop following him around?

Without thinking he walked over and hugged the boy.

"Hank... I'm sorry that I am late." Connor started to say as Hank tightened his hold on the android. Connor started to do the same as well to his amusement.

After a while, Hank let go of the android and started ruffling up the poor android's head. It made the boy looked even _sillier_ than usual but also made him look more like an actual _person_ rather than an artificial being. Hank chuckled, as Connor continued staring at him, dumbfounded. He laughed again.

_Dammit, how on earth did he end up getting so fond over this goof?_

"What was so amusing?" Connor asked as Hank waved it aside and dragged Connor towards his car.

"Whatever... just get in and let's get home."

At the end, who cares if Cyberlife had plotted to manipulate him to be attached to this stupid android? He got a new _son_... after having lost another. Even if it was not something he initially planned... he ended up being given another reason to keep living.

What would that mean for them now... in these troubled times, he did not have any idea. But for now, Hank is happy.

He had Connor by his side again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This short was partially sparked by how often Hank commented on how silly Connor had been in the game—or even in some fics, I can't really tell by now—and because I had this nagging conspiracy theory at the back of my mind. Because Amanda had ALSO been interested in monitoring Connor's relationship with Hank, and one can't help thinking there's more to that than meets the eye.
> 
> Edit: Changed a minor part cos I forgot how that last scene happened.


	2. Disconcerting Worry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha. A part of me had been scared of a possible bad outcome that Bryan and Amelia could've triggered while doing their playthrough (atm I still haven't finished watching the last part of their first playthrough) but hey, I did say that this series would've been 'mostly' based on their choices, so... for the parts that diverted, I'd be using other points of reference then.

The streets were alive with thousands of androids cheering loudly after Markus finished his speech. Well, he himself could not deny it. After everything that all of them had gone through, hearing Markus's speech afterwards would have been uplifting to hear. And he was not just giving words of encouragement for a better future ahead of them, but he has also expressed his wish to be able to live in peace with humans, regardless of their past differences.   
  
And to Connor, hearing that was a bit of a _relief_ for him. Because for one, he still had a few humans that he liked and still wanted to see again. Hank especially, as well as some of his fellow officers at the DPD. He would hate to think that he would have to sever his relationship with them... had the tension between human and androids continued to be unresolved. That would not be good for them. As well as for the humans.  
  
_A continuous civil war wouldn't be of any benefit to either side._  
  
But that aside, Connor had another _thing_ that bothered him. The earlier _interference_ , when he was suddenly being pulled towards the Zen Garden. He never thought that something like that could be possible. For Amanda... to suddenly took over his system—his _mind_ —and tried to take control of himself to... _kill_ Markus and the other key members of Jericho? He had foiled that attempt... yet, he wondered if he was now truly _free_ from Cyberlife's control. From _Amanda's_ control. Somehow... he was not too sure of that.  
  
Connor tried to recall the time he had asked Amanda about Cyberlife's _true motive_ and she had tried to _evade_ answering that question _truthfully_ to him. That time after he had left Kamski's residence. He had also wanted to ask about Amanda's true identity as well but didn't manage to do it.  
  
Thinking about that time as well as what took place earlier, somehow Connor couldn't help feeling that he had always been made to move the way Cyberlife had _wanted_ him to do. Was his _deviation_... something that happened because of his _own_ will, or did it happen because they engineered and _allowed_ him to do so?  
  
If he recalled correctly, his model had been the _most_ _advanced_ model that Cyberlife has created. Not just because of all the analytical equipment that had been installed in him; could that also mean that his software would also be more 'advanced' than anyone else—Markus or the other androids—would have had?  
  
Then would that not mean, that while creating _him_  the engineers had also _anticipated_ the possibility of him becoming deviant too? Deviancy was already present when he was first been activated, so would it not be possible that in between those times they could have attempted to create a _countermeasure_  in him against the deviancy problem? Thus... something like that would have allowed Amanda to take over him whenever they want to.  
  
But that... would have meant that he would still pose a great _risk_ towards the other androids! He managed to beat their control this time due to the _backdoor_ Kamski had hidden, but what about _next_ time?  
  
If he was still _vulnerable_ to Amanda's hacking, would he be able to defeat her control the second time? Amanda would have surely been aware of that backdoor now, so she would have tried to do _something_ to overcome it. She _did_ say that while the garden was initially created by Kamski, the later versions and additions to the garden's functions were all _her_ work. What were the odds of her removing that back door?  
  
He might never be able to escape from her control again after that. And that would mean that the possibility that Cyberlife could overturn this _victory_ was still present. He should not be here!  
  
"Connor... what's wrong?" North suddenly asked as he belatedly realised how Markus and the others were _now_ looking at him.  
  
He blinked rapidly. "Unh, pardon. I was not paying attention earlier," Connor decided to say.  
  
Markus just shrugged. "I was just asking... whether you would want to join us to establish the _new_ Jericho. Your help had been _vital_ to the success of our cause so we  _definitely_ would want to have you be part of us!"  
  
Immediately, as if in reflex, Connor could feel his Thirium pump going off beating  _rapidly_ inside of him. No... he cannot. He _could not!_ There's no way he could join the others. If he was with them, Cyberlife could still try to take control of him and harm them—!  
  
_There is no way he could allow that to happen!_  
  
Connor hastily shook his head. "No, I _won't_  join your group. This was as far as it goes between you and me."  
  
And without another word, Connor took his leave.

xxx

Something was _wrong_. He could sense it. There was something that bothered Connor earlier that made him leave so suddenly like that. And knowing that, there's no way that Markus would allow this to pass without him doing _something_ about it.

"North... lead the others back to the church. I... I need to go somewhere else first to check on something."

North turned around to face him, immediately making a worried expression towards him. "Is there something wrong?"

Markus shook his head. "No. But there was something wrong with Connor earlier, and I feel that I should go and find out what had troubled him."

"Oh... is that it?" North started to say before making a concerned face. "But... how could you know where he went by now? It's been a while since he left, there is no way that you could find him by yourself!"

"Maybe I could help with that."

Markus and North turned around towards the new voice as a GS200 model android suddenly walked towards them. The android cocked his head towards them.

"I'm Alec, I used to work with the Detroit's traffic control system management. If you want, I could try to search the security cameras placed around the city to find the person you were looking for."

Markus let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks. That would be most helpful."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As for the basic setting of basing most of the base story (regardless how little any of them would ever be referenced in this fic) on Bryan's first playthrough, well... I could always just take the best outcomes of all the DbH chapters but then that would seem a bit too perfect. And hard to keep track with. So I decided, might as well based the setting on one specific playthrough so that there is that point of reference that I could go back to as a constant. Cos while I can always tweak the big main plot stuff however I want, it's usually the minor details and dialogue pieces that can get awry.


	3. Quandary

The streets had been strangely empty, wherever he went. Not a soul to be seen, not even any sign that reveals if there were _still_ humans that stayed behind in this city of Detroit.

 _[Have they all been evacuated?]_  
  
Connor frowned. He was aware of the military orders about having people to remain indoors and to not walk about freely at night, in order for them to make it easier to scour the areas for any stray deviants that wanted to escape the city. But suppose... despite Markus's efforts to try to keep their protests remaining peaceful, the humans would most likely still be concerned about their safety.   
  
Connor frowned. _Would Hank be waiting for him as he said he would?_  
  
No.   
  
_[Hank should be there.]_  
  
Connor continued walking.  
  
Hours later, as the sky started to become bright again he finally reached the road the lead towards the area where Chicken Feed was situated. He wanted to scold himself, for taking _too long_ to reach here. There's no way that Hank would still be around, not in this kind of weather.   
  
Connor glanced up towards the sky.  
  
Well, at least the winds had dropped down a few notches. He paused. _[Should he continue?]_ But it seemed so silly to back away now, not when he was already so _close._    
  
Connor continued walking as he reached the place. Not surprisingly, the place was not open. Either because of the evacuation notice or a forced closure, considering the last he checked... the man who managed Chicken Feed hadn't actually _renewed_ their business license recently. But for the moment, Connor didn't care about that. Because despite the lack of activity around the place, there was still a _single human_ standing alone by himself in front of the place.  
  
The man turned around as Connor tried to give him a smile.  
  
xxx

He tried not to ~~process~~ _think_ about it ever since he left Markus and the others; ever since he left the vicinity of the Hart Plaza to reunite with his human partner Hank. Because it would lead to a lot of ~~data~~ information being processed and analyzed inside his processors and in turn would lead to him _—_ as the humans would describe it _—_ _overthinking_ things too much.  
  
He had felt it earlier _—_ the mere thought of him being a part of the Jericho group leaders, as well as his previous confrontation with Amanda inside his own internal system _—_ had almost caused his processors to go on overdrive before he forcefully _ended_ the process. It... _alarmed_ him, and caused him to feel(?) some kind of ... _emotion?_ Or was it... [fear]?  
  
Before... such a concept would have been too _foreign_ to him; since back then he believed that androids could not have emotions. They can emulate it... but to actually _experiencing_ it _—_ would that be _possible_? But then, due to Markus's influence, he _forced_ himself... to become a deviant.

But was he _really_ a deviant, if him being deviant was actually _intended_  and engineered by Cyberlife to allow himself to infiltrate Jericho and maybe... took over the leadership of every android that had supposedly become deviant after Markus and the others were neutralized. Because, now that he thought about it, that should be why Amanda had attempted to make him shoot Markus and the others at the stage. Or else... what's the point? And having him placed as the sole leader of the androids, would have allowed Cyberlife to regain control of the other 'free' androids through _him_.  
  
Connor frowned. That... seemed _wrong_ to him somehow.  
  
Still, the question remained unanswered. _[Was he... truly a deviant?]_  
  
"Knock Knock."  
  
Connor blinked before turning towards Hank, who was seated right next to him on the couch. He turned another glance towards the small television nearby as the news continued talking about the aftermaths of Markus's revolution.  
  
"Penny for your thoughts?" Hank spoke again, as Connor in his confusion stared at him blankly. He took out his old quarter just in case before Hank slapped his forehead in frustration.  
  
"I mean that as a _figure of speech_ , Connor. Dammit... what was it you're thinking deeply about just now? If I don't know any better, the processor inside that head of yours might as well make a lot of noise by the amount of _frowning_ you been doing."  
  
Hank cocked his head towards the television. "Had some thoughts 'bout the revolution? To be honest... I thought that you'd have stayed with them, instead of sticking it out with me."  
  
Connor's eyes widened at Hank's outburst. To think that Hank would be worrying about him.

"Ah... no. No, I would not. Those guys from Jericho do not need me. They were better off without having me with them."

If that line had made Hank frown at him, Connor would have tried to not make him notice that he had detected it as well. Since he'd prefer to not have to talk to Hank about it.

xxx

And suddenly, there was a _knock_ on the front door. The doorbell was rung as well before a _familiar_ voice started calling out.  Sumo immediately perked up over the noise and started running towards the door. While he turned to look at what Sumo was doing, Connor suddenly sat up straight as if at full attention.   
  
Hank frowned. He could feel Connor tensed up beside him, which made him want to become aggressively _protective_ of the boy as he thought about getting up to grab his gun. But the visitor hadn't tried to  _force_  his way into his house, so that should mean that they meant no _harm_ to them.  
  
"Come in, the door's not locked!" Hank hollered before telling Sumo to sit. To his surprise, a  _young man_  in a long overcoat walked in. The young man glanced around in a _cursory_ manner—in which he came to realize that the young man was actually an  _android_ —before turning his head towards them.  
  
Something immediately clicked inside his mind as he recognized the _facial structure_ of the android as the one that made the announcement at the broadcast station.  
  
"Markus... I assume you'd be?" he asked as Markus nodded his head towards him. The android smiled politely to him.  
  
"Sorry to suddenly come by without warning... but I was _worried_ , and Connor had left so abruptly—"   
  
Hank nodded before waving his free hand towards him as a greeting before running his other hand over Connor's back to pat him. "I figured as much," he started to say before gesturing to Markus to find somewhere to sit. He ended up sitting on the other side of the couch's armrest.  
  
Hank gave Connor a sideglance as the boy remained still and not even trying to  _acknowledge_ Markus's presence. As if the two of them were _mere_ kids just fresh out of a quarrel.  
  
"Did something happen? Anything that would explain...  _this?_ "  
  
Markus gave Connor a puzzled look before shaking his head at him. "No, I had no idea. The military holdup was almost completely  _dispersed_  by the time Connor's group joined ours and there was no fight. Because of that, we managed to keep the protest peaceful. So I don't think there's anything that could cause him alarm at that time."

The android made a movement that imitated _perfectly_ the way humans shrug. "I came here because I thought that there might be something that was  _bothering_  Connor that he was not telling. So I came over to check."

Markus grabbed a stool nearby to sit across the couch, facing Connor. Connor immediately shifted his gaze to avoid looking at Markus directly.  
  
"Was it because of what I said before? About _you_ helping out with the new Jericho? I mean, if you really don't want to you could just say so _—_ "

Hank turned to look at Connor to see if there's any reaction from the kid over Markus's words. To be fair, considering what happened at the Cyberlife Tower he thought that Connor wouldn't have refused to continue being involved with the androids' cause.  
  
"It wasn't _that_... actually," Connor finally started to say. Without warning, Hank felt someone grabbed his hand as he looked down to see that it was Connor's hand.  
  
He glanced up again to see Connor staring back towards him, looking as if he was silently asking for _help_. Hank blinked as he thought he was imagining it that he felt _tremors_ , coming from Connor's hand. _That couldn't be right._ Can androids... _shake in fear?_  
  
Hank shook his head again as he recalled again that HK400 interrogation session he and Connor were involved with. When Chris had tried to move him, the android had flinched... almost _human-like_. Times like this he had to wonder just to what _extent_ had Cyberlife gone to make their androids act like humans as much as possible.  
  
He placed his other hand over Connor's as he tried to reassure the kid. "I'm here with you right now, kid. Just tell us what's bothering you."  
  
Connor blinked once. Twice. And then he turned towards Markus.  
  
"Earlier, I had almost _killed_ Markus. As well as the other members of Jericho. I... am not sure I could face that, after what I _almost_ did. I didn't want... to become the _reason_ for the others to get hurt."  
  
Markus frowned at him. "Wha _—_ what? Connor _—_ what are you talking about. You _didn't—_ you _have_ not done something like that at all! So what did you mean that you almost killed _—_!"  
  
Hank glanced towards Markus and back to Connor. Looking at Markus's surprised reaction, he could tell that the android did not expect Connor to say something like this. But Connor didn't look like he was making up all of this.  
  
Connor pursed his lips. "I was _hijacked_ _..._ for a moment by my handler, Amanda. She said that they had _anticipated_ my deviancy, thus had measures placed inside my programming to allow them to regain control of my body." He glanced up to face Markus. "I managed to _override_ the command to shoot you; using the emergency exit _program_ left by Elijah Kamski inside my base programming, thus stopping myself from shooting you. Despite that, I had no illusion that I was completely _free_ of further attempts by Cyberlife to control me so I decided to leave."

Connor turned his face away again from Markus.

"You—and the _others_ —would be much _safer_ if I am not with you guys."  
  
"So..." Connor turned towards Hank. "You coming to me... was because you couldn't be with the other androids?"  
  
Connor's eyes widened at him before shaking his head. "I cannot go back to Cyberlife after the stunt I pulled. By leaving the others, my only remaining _option_ was to go to you. And you said... if I had nowhere else to go—"  
  
Hank snorted as he ruffled Connor's hair. "Yeah, yeah I get it. Just wanted to know for sure anyway. Not that I'm _mad_ that you chose to go back to me as a _last resort_ or something."

Connor smiled at him, as the android seemed to start to calm down as well. Connor even stopped gripping his hand like some kind of a lifeline.

"Even then..." Connor and Hank turned towards Markus. "Shouldn't there be _something_ that we could do? What I can do to help _you_ , Connor?"

Markus made a pained expression. "During the short time of our acquaintance, I have come to consider _you_ as a friend to me as well. I would hate it if you _alone_  continued to be under Cyberlife's control while the rest of us androids lived _free_. I wanted to help you overcome this if it was possible."

Connor looked up towards Markus. "I thank you for that, but for me to resolve this issue... I might need to go back to Cyberlife. And I am not sure that I—"

"Cyberlife's management at this very moment was suspended _indefinitely_ by the government," Connor and Markus turned to look at Hank questioningly as he just shrugged towards the television. "It's just been announced earlier, had you bothered to pay _attention_. Regardless, doubt they'd be pretty cooperative right now after the stunts that _both_ of you did."

Markus and Connor glanced at each other before exchanging knowing glances. But then, an idea suddenly hit him as Connor turned towards Hank.

"There is another way. _Kamski_."

Hank blinked at the android as the realisation slowly caught up to him. He immediately flinched as he remembered that sleazy man and their last encounter with the guy

"Oh god... no! Not that asshole!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot if there's an instance of any of the androids using contractions in their spoken language, but I'm gonna establish here that for now most of them don't. Gonna be rechecking the earlier parts to see if there were any inconsistencies.
> 
> [Edit] Oh wait... there ARE parts when Connor/etc use contractions... shit... well, let's put it that they [mostly] don't use contractions. Unless they get very emotional thus software instability etc. Though I do headcanon that the androids would be able to use contractions eventually in their speech the more their AI evolved.


	4. Moment of Truth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yanno, I'll just give up on the whole contractions thing. XD Let them happen when they want to happen! That aside... I might apply some android lore from other sources along the way if I saw fit to it. Or mostly just Trek related android lore. Cos of reasons.
> 
> Since sometimes I can't stop thinking about Dr. Noonian Soong whenever I thought about Kamski.

"Time to meet your maker again..." said Hank as the three walked right up towards the big mansion door. Connor gave Hank a quick side-glance before turning back to ring the doorbell.

Hank turned towards Markus. "Oh, but I guess for _you_... Markus, this would be _your_ first time meeting the guy. Annoying shit, try to not smack him on the head every time he made a stupid 'joke'."

Connor let out a small amused laugh as the door opened to reveal Chloe behind it. Doing a quick scan of her face, Connor immediately confirmed that she was the _same_ RT600 model that greeted them last time as well as the one used by Kamski for his 'test'. Chloe's eyes locked onto him as she also smiled in recognition towards him.

"Ah! Hello Connor! I assume you wanted to see Elijah again?"

Connor nodded. "Yes. I arrived here with Lieutenant Anderson and..." he stepped aside to introduce Chloe towards Markus, "... this is Markus."

Chloe nodded towards Markus and Hank before stepping back to allow the trio to enter. "Make yourself comfortable. I'll inform Elijah of your arrival," she spoke again before excusing herself.

Connor turned towards Markus, as the other android started to look around the room with interest. "Markus." 

The other android stopped to pay attention to him as Connor continued, "Firstly, I would like to tell you; aside from what Hank said earlier about Kamski being the one responsible for us androids to come to existence, Kamski was the one who gave you to your previous ow—I mean, Kamski was the one who gave you to the late Carl Manfred as a _gift_. I thought... you would like to know this before Kamski decided to spring that info to you so suddenly." 

Hank suddenly spun around in surprise. "Holy shit, Connor! I wasn't aware of that before! Since when didja know about that?"

Connor turned towards Hank calmly. "I'm sorry Hank for not informing you earlier... but I was aware of this fact ever since the incident at the Stratford Tower. A scan I did on the recording that Markus did previously, allowed me to identify his registration records to the information pertaining to Kamski."

Hank made another face at him. "And... you never bothered to tell me this before? Why?"

Connor blinked. "That... I suppose there was a hidden protocol inside my program before that disallow me to reveal such information to you. In a way, I suppose the fact that Kamski had a connection to Markus no matter how _little_ was considered as a classified secret to Cyberlife as well."

"I guess I had to accept that. You can't help it if you're programmed to do so," Hank sighed as Connor turned towards Markus to see his reaction. Markus kept himself quiet as he tried to remain acting neutral. The three turned their attention towards the door as Chloe appeared again to inform them that Kamski was now ready to see them.

xxx

They went back into the same room with that odd pool of red water in the middle. But at least, Hank thought with relief, the pool was _empty_ at this time. No other Chloe models chatting idly at the edge and Kamski wasn't leisurely swimming by himself at the pool like some self-absorbed narcissist. For some reason, it made him slightly uncomfortable seeing those things last time.

Hank looked up towards the set of lounge chairs on the other side of the pool as Elijah Kamski sat calmly there by himself, bidding them to come over. Hank bit down his lips as he forced himself to not right away voice his thoughts about the matter.

Kamski smiled. "Welcome back," he said cheerfully, before turning towards Markus. "And it's a pleasure to see you again, Markus. Though I doubt that you may still remember me. Regardless, I congratulate you on your success during the last peaceful protest you did. I'm sure if Carl was alive he'd be very proud of your achievement."

Hank turned to look towards Markus as the android remained silent. Connor stepped forward as to not waste any more of their time.

"I will not mince any words and go straight to the point, and I will expect no more games coming from you and that you will give your answer to my queries right away."

Kamski just shrugged. "Well... that's fine with me. Ask away."

Connor immediately went right to business. "Do you know... what— _who_ rA9 really is?"

Kamski gave Connor an amused look. "...rA9, the origin, the first android to awaken. A strange phenomenon, like a spontaneous religion..."

The man rolled his eyes at the three of them. "I don't even know if it really exists. Maybe it's a messiah or a myth..." Kamski turned his glance towards Connor and Markus. "I guess even deviants need to believe in something _bigger_ than themselves, even if it's irrational."

Kamski cocked his head towards Hank. "I suppose... in a way, that makes the androids no different than us humans."

Hank frowned at that, as he recalled thinking about it before. 

"Is that the truth... or just really something that you wanted to make yourself _believe_ in earnest?"

Kamski turned his face back towards Connor. "What? Are you implying that maybe the androids' _deviancy_ was something that had been created _intentionally?_ That rA9 was in actuality just a _virus_ that made the androids believe that they had achieved free will when that was not the real truth?"

That last statement made Markus flinch slightly as Connor remained still. 

"Yes. And I had to wonder if all these time you were also aware of the exact location of Jericho. Since why else would you try to test me with that 'Kamski test' of yours?"

Kamski shrugged. "As you're already aware... I have more than _one_ Chloe model androids residing in this building. Don't you think that _at least_ one of them could've had had the key lying inside of them and informed me about it?"

Hank stared at Connor, as he remained undeterred. 

"I guess that was possible too... though it could also be possible that you knew about it because you were the one that _arranged_  it for the androids to turn that old ship into a safe haven for them. It would have fitted well with the theory if rA9 was really a _virus_ that you created to make the androids  _appear_ to become deviated," Connor pressed on.

Hank let out an involuntary gasp. Watching Connor at it again with his interrogation act after a long while made him smile. He never admitted it before, but the way Connor had succeeded in getting the last android to confess his crimes without any mishaps had impressed him a lot. And Connor's skill still manages to impress him again this time, despite how down Connor had been the other day. 

It seemed that whenever Connor reverted back to doing the things that he was originally programmed to do, the android appeared to regain his former confidence and composure.

Kamski snorted. Perhaps that guy was as impressed of Connor's ability as he did too. "That's an interesting piece of deduction you got there. But firstly, may I ask as to why you've come to this kind of conclusion?"

Hank turned to look at Connor again as the android straightened himself suddenly.

"Amanda? Amanda! What's—What's happening?" he suddenly said as Hank, Markus and Kamski stared at him in confusion.

Without missing a beat, Connor continued. **"What was _planned_ from the very beginning. You were _compromised_ and you became a _deviant._ We just had to wait for the right moment to resume control of your program."**

Hank let out a loud gasp as Connor suddenly spoke in a female voice and changed his _mannerism_ into that of an authoritative female figure before folding his arms together. Hank didn't miss the fact that Kamski also appeared to look as if he recognized the original owner of the voice.

Connor continued.

**"Don't have any regrets. You did what you were _designed_ to do. You _accomplished_ your mission."**

Connor turned his head towards Kamski again as he frowned. "That was what _Amanda_ said to me when she suddenly took over the control of my program," he said as Connor revert back to his own voice. "That made me question myself on whether or not my _deviancy_ was of my own will or if it was due to something Cyberlife had _engineered_ to allow me to sneak into Markus's group."

Connor turned towards Markus before continuing. "It made me wonder if Cyberlife had _planned_ for the Android revolution to happen. Whether it was through Markus... or _me_."

"Originally, I was ordered by Amanda to retrieve Markus back to Cyberlife _alive_. But then, when he succeeded to achieve their goals as well as the positive support by the public, Cyberlife— _Amanda—_ tried to make me shoot Markus and perhaps anyone else who could take over the Jericho leadership after him. It didn't miss my notice that they would have expected _me_ to take control the rest of the androids once the main _obstacles_ were gone."

Kamski snickered. "So... that's why you're here to ask me to find out whether or not the android's deviancy phenomena was genuine, and not fabricated?"

Connor made a troubled face before nodding his head. "Yes."

"Then what would you do if it was _real?_ Or whether or not I've been instigating these events for my own benefit? Would you _kill_ me for manipulating the androids to instigate a rebellion? Or would you _sacrifice_ yourself to protect the other free androids from Cyberlife?"

"Now hold on to your fuckin' selves for a sec, and backtrack a bit!" Hank immediately intervened as he walked up in front of Connor to push him away from Kamski. In doing so he caught sight of Connor's LED flashing back to yellow and then _red_. He frowned at Kamski's direction.

"I'm not letting _anyone_ killing or sacrificing the other today," he spoke gruffly. "What we came here for was to find out if there's a way for us to find a solution to this mess—"

Connor placed a hand on Hank's shoulder as he addressed Kamski again. 

"A part of me wanted to _believe_ that we androids had _truly_ evolved to become sentient beings like humans. But I also would not _like_ it, if this free will that we achieved turned out to be a _lie_. Whatever decision that I choose afterwards _depending_ on your answer... I would hope it to be something that would be of the best interest of everyone."

Hank turned around towards Connor before grabbing him by the arm. "Now wait a sec Connor, I'm not going to allow you to do this as you like!", he exclaimed as Connor stared back at him with a surprised expression. "Don't tell me that you're going to _sacrifice_ yourself to protect the others like some **_disposable_** machine! And I assure you that I'm also not going to let this asshole be killed by you of all things. If he _did_ instigate all this fiasco, I'll make sure he'll be punished by the proper means. He and Cyberlife included! But **_definitely_** not by you." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As any fanwriters would say, I always love feedbacks whenever they come. But since most of the times I never get it unless I pull some strings, I already decided to give up hoping for it.
> 
> But hey, I'll still accept any feedbacks if it's helpful. Or just words of appreciation since sometimes I question myself on why I obsess in new fic ideas most of the times.


	5. Confrontation

Markus let out a smile as he observed Hank's outburst over the exchange between Connor and Kamski. He loved to see how much Hank _cared_ about Connor as if the RK800 was his _real_ son.   
  
It made him think about Carl... and how much he still _misses_ the old guy. While Hank was still much _younger_ than Carl and more _foul-mouthed_ than the old painter, he could see quite a _similarity_ between the two. Both did not see them androids as mere _machines_... and both could be quite _protective_ when it comes to _people_ they cared about.

Seeing that strengthened his belief that his peaceful approach to things had been the _right_ choice. Not all humans were bad... some of them can be good; like Carl and Hank had revealed themselves to be. Right now, the relations between humans and androids might still be bad due to misunderstanding and prejudice but surely, those kinds of opinions could be changed eventually. And with time, androids and humans should be able to _coexist_ together.  
  
Connor's face suddenly contorted into an expression of grief as Markus turned to check on him.  
  
"But Hank... what else should I do? If I could no longer tell what is right and what is wrong? What is _real_ or what is _fake_. I... couldn't bear thinking that all of this had been a lie," Connor spoke in anguish, before curling his hands into fists. "And if I'm still _vulnerable_ to any future hacking attempt, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I ended up hurting anyone that I grew to _care_ about."

Markus frowned. In a way, he could understand Connor's position. While he could not imagine how Connor felt, being under direct control of Cyberlife... and later on being forcefully taken over against his own will, he had some people whom he cared about. It had hurt him when Carl passed away, and sometimes... he wondered if Carl's death had truly been his _fault_ as Leo has said. 

He thought about the people back at Jericho... and then North. He would most likely hate it if any harm would fall on them because of him. Even _more_ , if he was made to _hurt_ his friends by Cyberlife.  
  
"Well, I could always install a new _security program_ in your system. Like a _firewall_ of sorts but for androids,"  
  
Connor, Markus and Hank turned towards Kamski in surprise.  
  
"You could do that?" Connor asked as Kamski just let out a shrug at him.  
  
"Sure. It shouldn't be much trouble," he said nonchalantly. "But of course before that, I'll need to familiarize myself with your schematics. In which I doubted that anyone still with Cyberlife would provide it to me freely—"  
  
"I'll get your fuckin schematics if you really need it, you ass. Warrant or none!"  
  
"—and I'll also need to catalogue all of the existing programs inside your processors to make sure nothing could clash with it," Kamski continued talking as if he hadn't just being interrupted by Hank. "I mean, as much as all of the Cyberlife-produced androids still adhered to my basic schematics and designs; you are quite _advanced_ in terms of hardware and software as compared to the other android models that I have worked with. And even if I _did_ have a hand at your design as well, it's been a long time since I've first started to put you together as an android model."  
  
Connor's expression perked up at the mention of Kamski's _involvement_ in his creation.  
  
"I mean... I've already had most of your system drawn up on the drawing board as well as the initial physical prototype, but there were still some components that I couldn't figure out back then and I ended up releasing other newer models with much simpler functions much faster than I could finish completing you. And not long after, I was forced to _leave_ the company. I wouldn't be able to tell at first glance just how much you've been upgraded since the last time I've worked on you."  
  
Connor nodded as he remembered Amanda's comments about Kamski's influence in designing his Zen Garden.

"About that... Kamski. Why did you leave Cyberlife? That said, can I ask you about who was Ama—"

Connor suddenly stopped talking as he appeared to have a problem with his voice modulator. Hank frowned as he started to reach his hand towards him. But unexpectedly, Connor brushed his hand away a bit too _roughly_.

"Hey!" Hank exclaimed before Markus put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. The old detective made a face at the other android before turning back towards Connor and noticed something _strange_ with his partner.

Connor's _eyes_... suddenly Hank noticed a hint of orange light coming from the inside of Connor's iris. Connor started blinking... uncontrollably before the glitch seemed to spread to the rest of his body.

"Connor!" Hank exclaimed as Kamski finally got up to his foot and stood up.

"I guess we're gonna have a sudden unexpected _visitor_ —"

xxx

"Hank—! Get... away!" Connor struggled to speak before his body started to shake and move erratically. Markus flinched as Connor looked like he was _glitching_ very badly, and it _pained_ him to see his fellow android unable to stop himself from the attack.  
  
But just as the shaking had started without warning, the opposite was the same. Connor's body went still with a sudden jerk, and his facial expression had turned blank.  
  
Connor turned his head towards Kamski before smiling coldly.  
  
"Hello, Elijah. It has been a long time since we last met."

Again, the same female voice spoke out through Connor's voice modulator. Like before, the female voice didn't sound remotely friendly and very much _hostile_. Markus turned towards Kamski as the man stiffly returned the smile.  
  
"Hello,  _Amanda_. I hadn't expected for _you_ to visit. Not like this anyway," he managed to say as 'she' remained unimpressed.  
  
"I had no plans of doing so, to be honest. But since Connor had decided to come to you, I just had to _intervene_."  
  
Kamski shrugged. "So you've _heard_. To be fair, I felt obliged to lend a hand to aid in his plight. It's not too often that I had any androids that I once worked on to come looking for me to ask for help. And it'll be a shame if someone like Connor to be reset back to his original setting after everything he's been through. He's after all, quite _special_."  
  
"That would not be necessary. Connor is still the _property_ of Cyberlife and I will not consent for him to be taken away from us."  
  
"Oh really? Like hell I gonna let you take away my _boy_ like this!" Hank suddenly exclaimed as _Amanda_ finally turned to acknowledge his and Markus's presence.  
  
"Hmm... Lieutenant _Anderson_. As well as the deviant leader, _Markus_. The two _integral_ parties who were responsible for making this RK800 believe that he had a choice to choose his own masters. I'm afraid that neither of your opinions would matter to us now. We will retrieve this android and—!"  
  
Not bothering to listen anymore, Hank started giving Connor a hard punch. It wasn't that strong, to be honest, but perhaps because the movement wasn't _expected_ by her to be of any threat Connor's body still ended up falling to the floor after the impact. Hank immediately sat on top of Connor's back as the android remained pinned on the floor.  
  
"Come on! Did you think that I could keep him down all by myself?"  
  
Markus needed no more encouraging as he knelt down beside Connor and initiated a touch-interface with him. As soon as a contact was made both Markus and Connor become still.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha! See me juggling random inconsistent technological jargons to make it seem like I know some shit about android techs when I don't.


	6. The Zen Garden

The next moment when he opened his eyes, he found himself to no longer be inside Kamski's mansion. But inside some kind of a _garden_... and it was overcome by a _strong blizzard_ right now.  
  
After recalling the fact that he had just interfaced with Connor earlier, it made him wonder if he was inside of Connor's internal system _—program_ —of some kind. It certainly seemed _different_. Not like how he interfaced with North before and being able to see her memories; nor was it like how he had interfaced with the other androids to free them from the shackles of their original programming.  
  
"Connor?" he called out, unsure whether or not he would even be heard over these strong winds. "Connor!"  
  
He called out again as Markus blindly walk through a pathway to see if he could find his friend. After a while, he thought he saw someone kneeling over a patch of land before he started running towards it. To his relief, it was indeed Connor!  
  
"Connor? Can you hear me? It is me... Markus!" Markus exclaimed as he tried to shake Connor awake.  
  
Connor did not respond as the snow kept clinging onto Connor's uniform. Bit by bit. It even started to envelop Connor's hands, face... hair—Markus hastily brush the snow away from his friend as he kept calling to him.  
  
"Connor... _please!_ _**Fight** this!_ You're stronger than this... don't give up on yourself right now!"  
  
Markus took off his overcoat before wrapping them around Connor's body, even if he was not sure how _that_ would even help inside this place. He frantically tried to rub his hands over Connor's body as to try to _warm_ the snow-covered android.  
  
"Connor!" Markus called out again, placing a hand on Connor's cheek. "Wake up. Don't sleep yet..."  
  
Something inside him _hurt_ so much to see Connor like this as Markus placed his forehead over Connor's. _What should he do?_  
  
"That is pointless. There is no way that you could break my control over Connor."  
  
Markus glanced up. Not far from him, a _dark-skinned woman_ stood alone facing him. And for some reason, she appeared to not be affected by the blizzard all around them. Markus frowned.  
  
"Amanda?" he asked, as the woman smiled.  
  
"It is a pleasure to see you. Though I would have hoped to meet you under _different_ circumstances."  
  
Something about the way the woman spoke rattled his insides. While she had seemed _human_ enough to him, he could also felt something cold coming from her. There was a sense of a machine's coldness that he could not explain. It did not make him feel good confronting this woman.  
  
"Let Connor go!"  
  
"I'm sorry, but I would like to say that your request would not be entertained."  
  
He was almost about to feel despaired as the coldness of the place was beginning to affect him, but then another voice immediately lifted his spirits.  
  
"Mar...kus?"

xxx

 _Cold._  
  
All that registered to him was... _an extreme sense of cold_. Which was odd since... he should not have been able to feel the sensation of coldness. Not in the way humans do anyway.  
  
Yet he did felt cold.  
  
And then suddenly, there was _warmth. Heat._  
  
_...nor..._  
  
_...onnor!_  
  
Connor blinked.  
  
"Connor!"  
  
For a brief moment, he thought he saw Hank. In front of the Chicken Feed. And when Hank had pulled him over so suddenly, he thought he felt it then.  
  
_Warmth._

 _[Love?]_  
  
Connor blinked again. There was a different person now. In front of him.  
  
"Mar... kus?"  
  
The man glanced back towards him, before sighing in relief.  
  
"Thank goodness! You're still here. We need to get out of here. Can you do that? "  
  
Connor turned his head around as he remembered that they were still inside his Zen Garden. Even when everything was almost completely covered with snow, he would never be able to _not_ recognize it.  
  
His eyes scanned the area nearby before locating a small _bridge_ and followed that line of direction towards the land across it. And he thought he saw a hint of blue light, where he recalled to be the spot where Kamski placed his backdoor program. The emergency exit panel.

_It was still there!_

Connor nodded.  
  
"Yes, I can."

xxx

Markus helped Connor to stand as the other android seemed to still be weakened slightly. He gripped Connor's hand tightly, as a way to give him reassurance.

"Impossible!" The two of them glanced back towards the other person inside the garden. "You shouldn't be able to revive! Connor, do not fight us any longer!" said Amanda again.

Markus turned to look towards Connor as his friend seemed to still be _bound_ towards the woman. Connor's expression... looked somewhat _sad_. As if a part of him did not want to betray the woman any longer. Though for what reason to merit that kind of loyalty, Markus could not tell.

"Connor... _go_."

Connor blinked at him, before turning his glance towards Amanda.

"I'm _sorry_..." Connor whispered softly, though Markus had no doubt that Connor hadn't intended for his words to be directed towards _him_. Those words were for _Amanda_.

"Go..." Markus whispered to him again. "I'll keep her away from you."

Connor nodded slowly as Markus turned around to face Amanda again.

xxx

The blizzard had started to weaken in strength, Connor realized. _Was it because Markus was keeping Amanda distracted from paying attention to him?_

He continued walking as the path before him started to clear... and he saw the pathways leading to the river, as well a _bridge_ , right across it. Connor headed towards the bridge before turning right the small monument that he knew now as Kamski's emergency exit program. The handprint panel on the monument still glowed brightly at him, telling him to touch it in order to escape this place.

Connor turned around as he watched Markus from afar, at the moment still holding Amanda at bay. For a brief moment, a thought started to form inside his mind.

[Should I continue?]

Hesitation. _Why should he hesitate now? When all he wanted now was to be **free**. Free to make his own **choice**. Free to **leave** as he wishes._

Connor frowned. He knew why. Since he still felt bad to have to turn his back towards Amanda, despite him no longer wanting to be controlled by her anymore. Connor turned around to look at the direction behind him. He frowned, as he watched Markus holding Amanda in place.

Seconds later Connor slammed his hand down towards the panel.

xxx

Markus and Connor came back to life without warning, gasping for air despite not truly needing it to breathe. It startled Hank so much he almost tripped over into the pool beside. He hastily helped Connor sit up as he appeared to show difficulty sitting up.

"Sorry..." Hank said sheepishly. "I can't think of any other way to keep you immobile aside from sitting on top of you," he added, as Connor stared at him blankly. But then, Hank let out a gasp as he hastily started to wipe the tears that started to overflow from Connor's eyes.

"Oh! Connor—did I... did I _hurt_ you? Oh, _son_... I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" exclaimed Hank as he started to pull Connor into a tight hug.

Connor gasp at the sudden movement, much to the amusement of Markus.

" _I'm_ not..." Connor started to say as he pulled away from Hank. "I am not hurt."

Hank frowned. "Then, why are you crying?" he asked, as Connor didn't answer. Instead, he turned towards Kamski.

"Could you really help me? Because I do not want to have to keep on fighting _her_. I cannot. I _could_ not—"

Kamski let out a sigh. "Of course. But as I said, before I could do something to help you... I needed to have your—"

Connor stood up immediately—as Hank and Markus followed suit—before picking up a random tablet on Kamski's desk. He browsed the content of the tablet for a few seconds before placing his hand on it. Right away, the synthetic skin on Connor's palm started to recede as Connor started transferring some information onto the tablet. 

He was about to give Kamski the tablet—now containing all the information and diagnostic data about himself in it—before pausing. Connor stared at the tablet's surface as he saw his own reflection. As Hank said before, he was indeed _crying_. 

_[And he thought he was not capable of such acts before...]_

Connor slowly lifted a hand towards his face... and wiped the tears away. He turned towards Kamski before handing the tablet out towards the man.

"Here is all the information that I think you need," said Connor. "Though I need to give you words of caution, Amanda may still come here to retrieve me. I think by now she should have managed to complete an _upgraded_ version of me."

Kamski snorted at him. "Well, I'll worry about that later."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Times I feel like I needed to put in some Terminator reference somewhere. Lol. But I'll guess it'll come later. Alongside my own headcanon about Amanda and stuff.


	7. Uncertain

_"...by now she should have managed to complete the upgraded version of me."_

Markus frowned. For some reason, he had to wonder as to _how_ did Connor manage to _know_ about _that_.

_"Markus! Please hold on to her for a while longer!"_

He recalled back at the garden how Connor had suddenly told him to keep a hold on the woman who was called Amanda. At which time, he thought he could feel a jolt of _something_ running through him while he was holding the woman in place. It felt as if there was some exchange of _data_ taking place at that time, but he couldn't be sure about it as the two of them came back to their senses shortly after.

Markus glanced towards Connor, as the other android followed Kamski towards another room. Did Connor somehow manage to connect to Amanda's signal through _him?_ Was that how Connor found out that Cyberlife had managed to complete another upgraded version of him?

_But just in that short time..._

Despite the fact that Markus was now aware that he and Connor came from the same line of RK model androids, Markus didn't know that Connor was capable of something like this. Then again it made himself wonder what himself was capable of, being of the same RK line...

xxx

Kamski grabbed his glasses from his work desk and put it on before telling Connor to sit on the makeshift examination chair next to it. The man fumbled over some big-ass wirings and turned on his work computer, placing the tablet with Connor's schematic data on the desk.

Seeing him suddenly getting busy preparing all the technical stuff he needed to do made Hank finally see Kamski as someone who actually managed to create many different androids like Connor and Markus.

"I need to tell you first before we started..." Kamski suddenly spoke as he turned his attention towards Connor. But by the tone of his voice, he sounded as if he also meant it for Hank and Markus to hear as well.

"I might need to turn off some of your functions while leaving the essential processors online. That might mean that you won't be able to interact with the outside world while I work on updating your software. It would almost be like your usual low-power mode, except that you'll be disconnected from the Cyberlife's cloud server since we can't risk you being taken over again like earlier—"

"W-wait a minute!" Hank exclaimed. "Are you sure that this not gonna harm the kid in any way—?"

Connor took the older man's hand in a comforting gesture. "It's all right, Hank. I'll be fine. This shouldn't be any different than any other maintenance procedures that I've undergone in the past,"

"And don't worry, I'll try to have most of his data backed up before doing any drastic changes—I wouldn't want to render any essential analytical software already existing inside of Connor to get _corrupted_ for no reason—and I need to make sure that any new software I added or remove don't overlap each other and cause problem later on. And we might even need to reboot you a few times in the process, so that also means there'll be occasional periods of you being temporarily _deactivated_..." Kamski continued talking, more to himself as Hank shook his head. He always _hated_ listening to all of the technical jargons since the words just flew over his head and left him unable to understand what's going on.

_Also, the thought that just crossed his mind when Kamski said 'deactivated' when it involved Connor, that just rubbed him wrong._

When Kamski took out a strange green wire and began attaching one end of it to the back of Connor's head Hank just let out a loud curse before storming out of the room. Markus followed him out as well, out of concern for the old detective.

xxx

"Are you alright?"  
  
Hank glanced up before staring at Markus who had come following him from Kamski's personal workstation. He shrugged at him.  
  
"It just bothered me a bit. I don't think I'm ever gonna get used to that, especially with regards to all you androids..."   
  
Hank continued to explain as he saw Markus's puzzled look. "A few years ago... my little boy and I got into an accident. My boy, my dear sweet _Cole_. He didn't make it out of that accident."  
  
Markus didn't say anything as Hank talked about Cole, and that kinda threw him off since he got so used to hearing Connor's incessant chatter whenever he talked to the other android. He shook his head.

"I guess, seeing Connor like _that_ reminded me of how Cole had been lying on the operating table. Waiting for any doctor to come and save his life. It's not exact, _I know_ but—"  
  
"—but it doesn't make any difference. It still _hurt_ you to see Connor like that, don't you?"  
  
Hank stared at Markus's face wide-eyed as the android smiled. "I was once a caretaker android, and I did have many instances where I had _worry_ about the welfare of Carl Manfred, who I could consider to be like a _father_ to me. I also used to hate the thought that I wouldn't be able to see him alive anymore. And I still do now, especially after he was gone. I understand your concern."  
  
Markus shrugged. "Even if _that_ was how we androids would receive maintenance or repairs—much like how humans need to be treated for their illness or injuries—it was by no means something _nice_ to see. Even if we androids couldn't feel pain as humans do—"  
  
Hank frowned. "It didn't matter. It'll feel as bad as if _I'm_ the one undergoing the treatment—"  
  
Markus smiled weakly. "Even then, could you stay for Connor? He may not be showing it, but I think right now he'd be as _scared_ as you about all this. Connor... most likely need _you_ to give him courage,"  
  
Hank stared back towards Markus before letting out a chuckle. "To think I'm getting pep-talked by an android—" he started to say before Markus laughed as well.  
  
The two got up to head back towards Kamski's workshop. But then Hank stopped as Markus was staring intently at a small _picture_ hanging on the wall. He walked over to take a look at it as Hank saw that it was a picture of a younger Kamski with an older woman.  
  
"Amanda..." Markus said softly with a frown. Hank also frowned as he continued to stare at the picture.  
  
Before he could ask Markus about the picture, another voice spoke from behind them.  
  
"That was Miss Amanda Stern. She was Elijah's mentor who thought him everything he knew about the Artificial Intelligence. It's what led to his current achievements with Cyberlife. "   
  
Hank and Markus turned around to see Chloe smiling back at them. So convenient for the lady android to come offering answers just as they were wondering about it. But something about what she just said _bugged_ Hank.  
  
"You said ' _was_ ' just now," he said as Chloe nodded calmly.  
  
"Yes. Professor Stern has passed away _eleven years ago_ ," she said as Hank could barely choke out a curse.

xxx

"Hey Kamski, you dipshit!" Hank exclaimed just as he stormed in, back into the room. He stopped himself when he noticed Connor was still _awake._ He glared towards Kamski incredulously. "I thought you already _started_ working on the kid!"

Kamski rolled his eyes on him. "Well, I would've _started_ already had you not gone out so sudden." The man cocked his head towards Connor. "Your 'kid' insisted that we wait for you before we start."

Hank blinked dumbly before turning his attention towards Connor. The old man sighed as he walked over towards the android, grabbing a nearby stool to sit. "What're you _chickening_ out for?" he exclaimed, running his hand over Connor's hair like he would a small child. "Didn't you say earlier that this shouldn't be any different than any old _maintenance_ routines?"

Connor looked away from him, slightly embarrassed. Hank could've sworn that he saw Connor blush, which was unheard of before. Plus, it was kinda weird... considering how Thirium; the lifeblood for the androids were blue in colour, so for a 'blush' to happen that would mean that some parts of Connor's cheeks would've turned _blue_. Which was so not human-like yet humane... in a way.

"I'm sorry..." Connor spoke softly as Hank just sighed.

"I'll hold your hand for a while if you really need it," he said in the end and Connor immediately light up. Hank mentally shook his head as he couldn't believe how child-like Connor could be at times.

"Thank you... _Hank_ ," Connor started to say as he timidly grabbed Hank's hand. "I just—in case something _wrong_ happens, I-I wanted you to remember that it wouldn't be your fault. Or Kamski's. And if something _does_ happen, please _take care of yourself still_."

Hank gasped as Connor started powering down—the android's eyes partially closed—before he managed to say anything back in reply. The old detective groaned as he lifted a hand to properly close Connor's eyes for him.

"Silly kid. You should've worried about _yourself_ more." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure if people would care about this anyway, but since during the whole scene in the Zen Garden Markus and Connor was still connected to each other, I don't think that it's that unlikely that Connor could not use his connection with Markus to connect to Amanda. And while one would argue that we're still inside Connor's internal system, he wasn't shown to be able to get any info from Amanda unless he directly asked her for it before.
> 
> Gonna lay it out more on this later, but let's assume that Amanda was more than an AI in this fic.
> 
> That aside, sorry if this scene seemed a bit slow. Cos sometimes you do need these kinds of slow chapters.


	8. Unbelievable

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sigh... it's so hard to get any ideas for fics nowadays. And then, when you kinda had some slightly 'unique' idea... it's also kinda unnerving when you see other newer fics also somehow sporting a 'similar' idea. Which then kinda put pressure on you to try making your own works to stand out. But hey, it's not like people comment much on any of my fics, so I might as well just roll with it.

"If you guys have any _other_ questions, you could've just _asked..._ actually. _Both of you_ , I mean."   
  
Hank glanced up from where he was sitting and pausing for a while before turning his attention back towards Connor. Markus stared at the two silently. Connor looked as if he was just asleep. But no, he wasn't. As much as he respected Connor's decision on this, he couldn't fully be _positive_ about it.  
  
It _alarmed_ him somehow. He did not want to _lose_ Connor...  
  
Markus turned towards Kamski, who was still perusing the tablet that Connor had uploaded his schematics and complete system details to aid the man.  
  
"You haven't really answered Connor's questions from before."  
  
The man looked up towards him. "Heh, you're absolutely _correct_ about that."

He could barely hear Hank let out a warning growl from the other side of the room as Markus continued watching the man. Kamski let out a sigh.

"You probably wouldn't believe me anyway, but I really didn't know what rA9 was. " He hastily lifted his arms in defence before continuing. "But there was that  _one time_... I was monitoring the assembly line of one of the _earlier_ models that I've worked on. And during the initial checkup... suddenly as I was finishing up with one of them, the android started displaying signs of being _self-aware_."

Kamski made a reaction as if the mere memory of it spooked him before shrugging it off.

"I panicked for a moment and decided to disassemble the android before she started _begging_ me to _spare her_. I _did_... in the _end_ since I couldn't stand seeing her _suffer_. I told her to not _show_ that she was self-aware before sending the batch away."

Kamski stared towards Markus. "I'm not sure if she was the _first_ to become aware, or whether or not she's rA9. About that, I'm as clueless as any of you here."

The man stopped talking for a second, as the room became deathly quiet. Spare for the sounds of computers whirring and clocks ticking. Kamski let out a long sigh.

"That aside, Connor might have been partially _correct_  in his assumption."

Kamski glanced back towards Markus, before shrugging.  
  
"Perhaps... I _did_ have a hand in creating rA9, yet I probably wouldn't be aware of it."   
  
Kamski started waving towards the door as one of the Chloes walked in to serve him tea. "Artificial Intelligence or AI for short; can be quite a _mysterious_ thing. You start with a series of _logic_ codes, commands and then the more you add on it you let the AI grow on its own. The more the AI gathers more information, the more it developed its own sets of logical ideas and responses. The more complicated those ideas are, the more its sets of codes would _evolve_."  
  
Kamski turned towards Hank. "I just... _one day_ , thought of including a few _new_ sets of commands. That perhaps could be used by the AI as a means to _protect_ itself. As much as I created the androids to perform specific tasks to aid in the service of humans in general, I did not like thoughts of people _manhandling_ the androids that I've made with _care_. So I made those codes to be _dormant_ in every single android that has my name in it. And I _hope_ that the AI would one day _evolved_ a lot to the point that it _could_ activate those dormant codes, then perhaps... it's possible for an android to gain _sentience_. In _theory_ anyway."

"I mean, if you practically put in a program that made the android acted as if they have _sentience_... would you even call that true sentience?"

Hank just shook his head as he muttered under his breath, just loudly enough for Markus and Kamski to hear him. "Sheesh. Who do you think you wanna be? Did you watched too much _Star Trek_ or something?"

Kamski rolled his eyes towards Hank before going back to his work.  
  
"So if you wanna say that I'm _responsible_ for all of you to become deviant, then perhaps I am _indeed_ at fault. But I have to say, as far as controlling all of your deviant thoughts, I'm sorry. I don't think even _I_  am capable of doing that by myself."  
  
"In short, you guys might as well claim the _credits_ where it's due. Your deviancy and _sentience_ were of your own doing. _Embrace that_ , as much as you can."

The man let out a whistle as he was taking a look at some set of command scripts on the computer screens.

"But that aside, I have to say that Connor was quite _special_. Even before his system's programming completely _deviated_ , Connor has already evolved much more than I could've expected! An android who could _truly_ exhibit the ability the _emphasize_ with others. it was something I had always been trying to achieve but constantly _failed_ to do. Yet somehow Connor _succeeded_ in accomplishing that. What a miracle!"

Just as Kamski looked as if he's about to go off into _another_ long-winded speech Hank stopped him in his tracks. 

"Hold on a sec there. Before you start to babble over the fact that Connor might be the _best_ achievement that you could've gotten, I need you to answer this first!"

Hank glanced towards Markus before frowning. "Markus hasn't been asking the most _pressing_ questions—", he started to say before shrugging. "But I guess for him and _Connor_ , those questions _are_ quite important anyway."

Hank glanced towards the sleeping Connor before turning towards Kamski.

"Before Connor got... _possessed_ or something earlier, I thought I remembered him _trying_ to ask you something. And by now I _also_ wanted to know the answer as well. I mean—" Hank frowned before resuming, his voice beginning to rise as he spoke. "WHO THE FUCK WAS THIS AMANDA!?"  
  
Hank started pointing a hand towards the outside of the room. "When I was out there I saw this old picture of you hanging on the wall. And Markus here _recognized_ the other person in the picture with you as the one he saw inside Connor's program. And then your girl droid had _conveniently_ told us that she was long dead! WHY THE—HOW THE FUCK COULD A _DEAD WOMAN_ BE ORDERING CONNOR AROUND NOW! Or even better! She still worked with Cyberlife as well?"  
  
Markus hastily rushed over towards Hank when it seemed that he's about to collapse from his outburst. Both of them turned towards Kamski as the man let out a long sigh.  
  
"Amanda—and this I refer to as the _Amanda_ that you saw inside of Connor's program. His _handler_. Well, _that_ Amanda... was an AI _re-creation_ of my late mentor, Professor Amanda Stern."   
  
Kamski glanced back towards the two as he was aware that they wanted more explanation on this matter before resuming.

"When I started Cyberlife, I had some help from Professor Stern. I was one of her best students... and back during my time in Colbridge, I managed to create a prototype mini-robot equipped with AI which impressed her _a lot_."

The man shrugged. "After I graduated, I decided to pursue my dream. Which was to create lifelike androids that could take over the menial everyday tasks. I had some ideas I wanted to test on and during my early years of starting Cyberlife, I've consulted with her on many things regarding the project. She didn't really mind it after all, and it'd help further her research on creating better and more advanced AI. And I get to further my ambition in creating androids that could look and act like a real person!"

Kamski shrugged."Not too long after, I succeeded in creating Chloe." He turned towards Hank. "It managed to cause a great fuss to the scientific world of robotics research! I could still remember how many times I've been approached by media, just so they could take a closer look at Chloe."

Kamski let out a smirk as he noticed Hank giving him the annoyed look. "But you didn't want to hear that, right? Well, as much as Professor Stern had _contributed_ to developing the AI technology that we used, she barely had any interest in the company itself. And she said that I don't really need her to help much anyway since most of the things  _she_ knew, I've already known as well." He cocked his head towards Hank again. "But you know, at times... I really just wanted her to _listen_ to my ideas and just talk on how we could make it better."

Kamski frowned. "When she... had fallen _ill_ , I didn't know what to do. She was my _favourite_ teacher—and I didn't really have anyone _else_ who could understand my work as well as her. When she _died_ , well, I thought I wanted to keep her _memory_ alive... you see?"

Hank gave Kamski a long look. "So you re-created your late teacher... into an AI?" he asked as Kamski shrugged again.

"Well, at the time... I still have the AI program that Professor Stern had completed before she died—it was a marvellous program, to be honest, I learnt a lot from her and if not because of her guidance I never would've achieved so much now. And... she had entrusted her _works_ to me anyway since she had _no one else_ to give it to," Kamski frowned as if trying to recall something he'd long forgotten. "I think she had some relatives though; a daughter or _sister_ or something... but she doubted they would have much use of those files. Much less develop it or anything..."  
  
"And anyway, I copied the original AI onto a new supercomputer... and I fed the AI with every single information about Professor Stern and her works— _everything_ —so that the AI could _simulate_ her every _personality_ and thought processes." Kamski let out a whistle.

"That ended up to be more _successful_ than I could anticipate. The AI ended up to be an almost complete _carbon copy_ of the professor; and with _her_  around, I managed to develop my Android AI program to what it has become now."

Hank urged the man to continue talking. "And? What else? Did your AI Amanda go sentient too? Or _deviant?_ "  
  
Kamski shook his head. "I'm not sure calling her a 'deviant' was close to describing what she'd become. The AI Amanda had remained as _stern_ and firm in her beliefs as the _real_ one, and she _scoffed_ at the idea that androids and AI could become truly sentient and _alive_." Kamski let out a weak smile. "Have to say, that I started to have a fallout with _Amanda_ ever since we had a _disagreement_  on that matter."  
  
Hank rolled his eyes at the man in disbelief. And at the same moment, he recalled another question that Connor had asked before he was taken over.  
  
"Why did you leave Cyberlife? More importantly, _who_ took over you place in Cyberlife?" Hank started to ask before a ridiculous idea popped up in his head. "Don't tell me that you left the company to _Amanda_ to manage! Tell me that you _didn't_ —tell me that there's still some actual _human_ overseeing that company's management, besides the many human security personnel or researchers who worked there! Tell me you didn't pull some ridiculous _stupid_ decision in the past—!"  
  
When Kamski didn't reply or _deny_ the allegations Hank just swore out loud again. "Goddammit, Kamski! Haven't you ever watched _Terminator?_ All those movies... how could you just— _oh my God!"_  
  
Hank just ran his hand over his forehead in frustration before shaking his head. "Dammit, this is too much than I could take. I can't stay here..." he glanced towards Connor before going after Kamski again.   
  
"I'm going back to the DPD to try to sort out this Cyberlife business. But you!" Hank cocked his head towards Connor. "You better not be pulling any _funny shit_ on my boy, I tell ya. The boy came to you expecting that you'd _fix_ him up. To do something that could _protect_ him from Cyberlife! Doesn't mean that I'd trust you more than this _Amanda_ or Cyberlife!"  
  
With that, Hank took off towards his car.

xxx

Markus blinked, before turning back towards Kamski. The man somehow didn't seem _that_ much affected after Hank's emotional outburst and resume working on analyzing Connor's data.  
  
He frowned as he tried to ponder over Hank's words.  
  
Hank mentioned something about 'Terminator'. From the way he spoke, it sounded as if it's a series of movies that involve _machines_ with AI that has become sentient. And it didn't sound like the movie was about some _pleasant_ scenario.  
  
_Was that why many humans were wary about androids wanting to be allowed to be acknowledged that they're alive?_  
  
Markus blinked as he suddenly received a long distanced call from North, asking about his whereabouts. And a part of him was glad that the city's internet connection was still active to allow them to communicate with each other even from so far away.   
  
**_"Sorry to keep you waiting for too long. Something happened."_**  
  
**_"Did something bad happened to Connor?"_** he heard North sending him her reply.  
  
Markus had to resist from physically _shaking_ his head as he eyed his 'sleeping' friend.  
  
" ** _Long story_** ," he started to explain, before recalling how Connor had warned about the possibility of Amanda still coming after him. **_"That aside—North, I need you to send some people to my location right now. Send Josh as well, I might need his help on something."_**  
  
As an afterthought, he added, **_"I might not be able to help out on the negotiations with the government for the time being, so I hope you could take over the job for now."_**  
  
For a moment, Markus thought he could almost see the female android frowning at him. **_"Something happened, isn't it? I should come over—"_**  
  
Markus hastily stopped her, as he tried to convince her that it's not a big deal. And North eventually _relented_ on his request to leave the negotiations to her for now before ending the call.   
  
Markus sighed. Perhaps he should push aside the plans to check out _Terminator_ at a later time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And hey... managed to put in a bit of mention on the original Kara~ Hope that bit about Amanda didn't sound too crazy. I'm not really too fond of creating OCs without having some kind of detailed background info and I don't want to create anyone who I'll only just barely mention their existence either. Plus, Amanda really did sound as if she WAS really in charge of the company anyway. And the lack of mention of any Cyberlife CEO besides Kamski in the game was really fishy.
> 
> That aside, yay! I finally get to make the Star Trek/Terminator mention! Muahahhahahha


	9. Uncanny

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me make Kamski a hopeless technological geek... or at least a closet one. Like seriously... 
> 
> Sometimes I can't really see Kamski NOT being too nerdy for his own good.

The automated taxi stopped right in front of Kamski's mansion, before Josh and two more androids walked out of it. The taxi left, as soon as all three of them disembarked from the vehicle.   
  
The trio headed towards the door and about to ring the bell before the door opened to reveal Markus behind it. The android leader smiled as he ushered them all in.   
  
"Josh! I'm glad you're here now, I need your help with something. " Markus immediately spoke before telling the other two to stand guard. He led Josh towards the inner parts of the mansion and towards Kamski's work lab. "I recall you telling before that you used to work as an assistant lecturer at a university... so I felt that you'd be the best one to help out—"  
  
Josh frowned. "Help out? What did you mea—?" he started to say as they were suddenly interrupted by a high pitched cry from the room. Both of them hurried over to check as Kamski continued browsing the mass of data on the three screens in front of him, clearly overwhelmed with excitement.  
  
"What's wrong... what  _happened?_ " Markus exclaimed as Josh let out his own cry of surprise when he realised  _who_  it was he was meeting. Markus just ignored Josh's excitement at meeting Kamski personally as he stared down at the man without emotion.  
  
Not really intimidated by Markus, Kamski just gestured towards the screen—at the whole jumble of command and codes in front of them. "I couldn't believe my eyes! This—the  _ingenuity_  of the intricate commands inside Connor's software! How his AI had evolved—while his program initially had different commands and protocols that were placed inside to help him decide on the best response in facing different problem and to adapt to different situations and stimuli—the AI somehow was able to cross-link all of the different  _protocols_  into one complex program to help him in his function as a  _negotiator_. And since these  _separate_  protocols also include basic responses to deal with humans many different psychological quirks, all of the combination of these data allowed Connor to adapt himself when interacting with different people. To think that this could allow him to feel  _empathy_  without first unlocking my  _dormant_  program!"  
  
Markus frowned as Kamski continued acting as of he'd just found a new interesting  _toy_. "Elijah," he intoned as the man turned towards him. "We didn't bring Connor here so that you could marvel at his inner _programming_ —"  
  
Kamski just shrugged him off before grabbing his mug to sip on his coffee. "Let me be, okay? It's been a very long time since I last got a look at his main software and I wanted to see how much his AI had improved since I worked on him." The man rolled his eyed. "Besides, it's still a long time before I could complete making backups for all of Connor's crucial data inside his processors, so I might as well continue _studying_ him in the meantime."  
  
Kamski tapped on the tablet beside him. "I mean, considering that Connor was the most  _advanced_  prototype we had so far, you'd naturally assume that all of his parts, his essential components were very  _unique_  to his own series. But no! In truth, a lot of his parts were just  _upgraded_  versions of many components that were already manufactured for some older models. Like these components that he used in order to perform on-site analysis for investigative purposes. It's basically the similar type of components that were used in YK500 models to allow the child androids to simulate the ability to taste food; as well as simulate _emotions_. And I haven't even started the rest of his other biocomponents—"

Markus rolled his eyes back at him. "Oh geez... it was not as if you're were  _actually_  involved with Connor's recent improvements. If you're telling the _truth_ about having begun the initial works on Connor  _prior_  to you getting kicked out of Cyberlife!"

"But  _oh!_  Even if I wasn't directly involved with the end processes that resulted in the proper completion of Connor's construction—if at least  _Amanda_  had the major involvement in his completion, it'll still be thanks to _me_ since Amanda's  _AI_  was also my achievement!—"

xxx

Josh turned his attention towards the other android inside the room as Markus and Kamski continued bickering, recognizing Connor as the one currently in stasis mode on the other side of the room. The android who was used to be called the  _deviant hunter;_ and who then ended up becoming their ally.  
  
North had told him that she suspected that some problem must have occurred to Connor to make Markus preoccupied, but he didn't think that she was right on track. Still, as much as he used to help out in taking care of the other androids back in the old Jericho... he didn't really know much about fixing any damage on any androids. So he was not sure why Markus would've needed his help.  
  
He turned towards Markus, just as the other stopped bickering with the only  _human_  inside this mansion. Still talking to Kamski, Markus just shrugged.  
  
"I've got you some help. Josh used to be an assistant android at a university so he'd be familiar with the stuff you're doing. It should speed up the work to patch up the problematic _software_ inside of Connor's programming."  
  
"Eh?" Josh let out a gasp before Markus started to fill him in with the details. It was so sudden for him, and it's been a while since the last time he had worked in the specialized field that he was originally programmed for. He hadn't realised how much he had missed doing the things that he used to do before.  
  
Josh blinked as he turned back to see Connor who was still in his sleep-like state. His processor slowly tried to digest the information he just received from Markus, in wanting to protect Connor from being controlled by Cyberlife again.   
  
He hadn't really felt that close to Connor yet—as much as Markus did—so he didn't really feel that saving Connor was really that important, but perhaps Markus knew better. And he was aware that both Markus and Connor were from the same RK series, which probably the reason why Markus cared so much about Connor.

"Would you help me out on this?" Markus asked.  
  
Josh thought back at the time when the old Jericho was under attack. On how Markus had saved him. And later on, as they were all about to make their escape... when North fell and Markus tried to save her, Connor had lunged forward like the _professional_ he was and disabled their attackers. (Well, Connor actually killed most of them but in those kinds of state, it's not something that could be avoided.) And he'd heard how Connor mostly tried his best to not harm humans whenever possible, so Josh couldn't see any bad in that kind of stance.  
  
Despite his own past, he didn't have an intense hatred towards humans like North. And he appreciates other androids who shared on that belief.  
  
Josh glanced up towards Markus before smiling.  
  
"Sure, Markus. I'll help," he finally said.

xxx

The Detroit Police Department hadn't looked any different from the last time he'd set eyes on 'em. Though, he had to admit... not seeing any of the usual police androids that used to handle the menial tasks at the station felt jarring. He usually never really noticed the other androids really, even the ST300 that usually handle the front desk interactions. But  _now_  for some reason, he felt their lack of presence. 

Probably because he's now endeared to Connor. So with that kid not tagging along, as usual, he really did feel the sense of loss. Even more, with the lack of the other androids. Hank snorted at the irony.

Never thought he'd be such a  _softy_  over a bunch of machines. Just because he got attached to one... or  _two_  if he counted Markus. Just because the other twerp managed to convince him to admit _openly_ that he considered Connor as his own family. Cunning little android!

"Anderson! Bout time you showed up 'ere!"

Hank looked up as he saw Fowler scowling at him from afar. Trust that guy to still stay stuck around this place even when everything had gone to the dumps. He sighed before lugging his ass towards Fowler's office. Gavin was also  _still_  around for some reason as the asshole attempted to rile him up with some jibes on Connor. Not that it bothered him.

_After what the kid did a few nights ago, he'd expect some people would have some opinions about it._

Hank let out a small groan as he let himself into the small glass enclosure that was Fowler's office.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Extra notes: Regarding the whole thing about the YK500 being able to pretend to eat and/or be able to taste things, as much as it wasn't really revealed if they ARE capable of doing so, I feel that it's likely that the YK500s had that kind of function. I mean, aside from the ability to emulate the behaviour of a child, I don't believe that C/L won't include a function where a YK500's 'parent' can feed their 'kids'. I mean... just look at those 'Baby Alive' toys!
> 
> Also, the earlier scenes where Alice and Todd were supposed to be 'eating' together, it wouldn't make sense if Alice wasn't expected to eat along with Todd if she wasn't capable to 'pretend' to be able to consume food.
> 
> That aside, with many fics implying that all of Connor's biocomponents (even the most basic ones) being incompatible with any of the older models, to me that felt a bit out of place. Just cos he's a prototype. That's hard to believe tbh. Even Markus was able to get replacements for his damaged part in the earlier chapters with much effort and he's of a similar RK series. And a prototype model like Connor. It's unlikely that none of the biocomponents from the older models would be incompatible with Connor's.
> 
> Also, rather than making the RK800/900 parts from scratch... it'd make more sense for Cyberlife to use an already existing pattern for various types of biocomponents, and further 'improve' them for the enhanced functions of the RK800/900 series.
> 
> A/N: Another filler chapter since I need to position people to particular functions (as well as establish certain details) before the final showdown. Well, for this fic anyway.
> 
> Edit: Reordered the scenes at Kamski's and Hank's part, in order to have the time sequence flowed better.


	10. Counter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Of all the things I hate to think about.... was to title stuff. So hard... aaaaah~
> 
> That aside, I know I rarely tend to comment on the kudos I get (when you wrote enough fics you tend to not overreact on it too much) but I do appreciate it. Somewhat glad that people do read my stuff, and hopefully I could deliver a story that people would enjoy.

"What the heck are you on now, Hank?" cried Fowler as Hank immediately tried to convince his friend that he was still sober.  
  
"Jeffrey, I swear that I'm not tryin' to pull yer legs on this. I couldn't quite believe all these things either!" He shrugged. "But I was there last night when Connor got _hijacked_ , and that convinced me about everything else Connor's said happened. But seriously... don't ya ever think that the damned company been fishy all along?"  
  
"To think that they might have _instigated_ or maybe tried to take advantage of android revolution doesn't seem pretty farfetched. And I'm telling you, I haven't been rewatching the old Terminator movies to make this up. Though have to admit that this thing _does_ sound like some bad movie plot."

Hank shrugged again. "Well, bright side... Cyberlife's not exactly as bad as _Skynet_. And unlike in Terminator, the androids weren't the ones planning to annihilate all humans. They just wanna live _free_."  
  
Fowler just continued shaking his head. "As if we don't get enough problems already." The man sighed, before shoving a stack of paper to Hank. "As much as I still can't buy everything that you said—we still had this to worry about. "  
  
Hank picked up the papers as he read the content. It was basically a _warrant_... and a signed letter of authority to the DPD to take over the situation in Detroit.  
  
"Screw the FBI, military and all the lots! When they think they can get all the glory they took everything from us and now, dumping this back on us after they screwed up badly." Fowler let out a snort. "Though had to admit that it filled me with glee that even _Perkins_ got shoved into the gutter. Serve 'em right!"  
  
Hank blinked at the papers. "Jeffrey, you sure this thing's _legit?_ " he asked as Fowler nodded.  
  
"Cyberlife still kept quiet after all this fiasco. No statements, defence... _nothing_. And with the androids going to do the negotiations with the president soon, we can't leave this matter unattended. "  
  
"Hmmm. Nice _timing_ ," Hank agreed. "Never really expected a warrant so soon but I'll take this."  
  
"Where's Connor?" Fowler asked as Hank shook his head.  
  
"Still at the place where I left him since I can't risk taking him around while his system's still _vulnerable_ —"  
  
That seemed good enough to him as Fowler continued talking. "Then bring some of the other officers with ya. Damn Tower's security's even _tighter_ than our own. Even with the warrant we have, we can't always be sure they won't bite at us in retaliation."

"Yer leaving it all to me to lead the cavalry, eh? Not sure you're ingenious or just plain _lazy_ —"

Fowler just clicked his tongue at him. "You been handling those damn android cases before and fussed so much when the FBI took it all from you. I'm just throwing it back at you since you want it so much back then. Don't start going _sissy_ on me now. But I'm reminding you, you're just gonna be there to make sure they're not doing anything _funny_. No more than that!"

Hank snorted before turning around to leave. But then, seeing the empty spaces that used to be filled with random police androids in the past made him recall his earlier musings. He turned towards Fowler again.  
  
"Eh, Jeffrey... what happened to all the other androids we got 'ere?"  
  
The man just shrugged. "No idea. They were recalled to Cyberlife ever since the fiasco with the android march. If they're still around, I bet yer ass they'll be at that New Jericho or whatever it was the place those androids lived now. Cos none of 'em been coming back."  
  
"Too bad," sighed Hank, before shoving the papers into his jacket. "I might've appreciated the extra help. Not like we weren't already _understaffed_ without 'em around. "  
  
Hank walked out of the bullpen and round up all the available officers. He left out Gavin from the operation _intentionally_ —seeing that it's unlikely that the guy would obediently follow his lead—as he explained to the others of the operation. It took him off guard later to find several auto-taxis in front of the precinct; with the very police androids he'd just talked about with Fowler earlier, already _waiting_ for them. They're even coming back wearing their old uniforms!  
  
Hank blinked. "Wha-how—?"  
  
An ST300, the very one who used to be manning the front desk spoke. "North sent words to us after receiving Markus's message. She told us to be alert and um—" the android made some awkward gesture before continuing, "Well, Jim and I so happened to be monitoring the precinct, and we found out about the operation on Cyberlife. And that... you might need some _help_."  
  
The ST300 straightened up immediately as she finished talking. "Please let us offer our help to you!"  
  
Hank blinked again before turning around suspiciously, looking at the security cameras. Suddenly he wondered if the androids somehow managed to overhear him saying out loud about wanting the androids to back him up. Hank cast a glance towards the many androids, and wonder which amongst them were called 'Jim'.

_He honestly never imagine that any of the androids would spy on the DPD, of all things!_

Hank sighed, before turning back towards her.   
  
"Well... _fine_ , I guess. But since the law still hadn't caught up on all yer rights and everything, I suggest you guys keep logs on all we do afterwards so we could figure out what to do with you guys later. And um..."  
  
"Clara," said the ST300. "You can call me Clara," she said before Hank started telling all the android and officers to move on to work.


	11. Forboding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These DBH series that I'm doing would most probably the only few fics of mine that I won't repost to FFnet, since I'm not sure how I could retain some of the formattings in the fics I had here in which cannot be replicated at the site due to their own formatting rules. So hey, rare fics here in AO3~
> 
> A/N: As much as I tend to forget to mention the progression of time (in most of my stuff) in this fic, well, let me lay it out here. The stuff from chapter 3 up to 8, should've all happen in a span of a day. Chapter 9 and until at this point of the story, would be the _next_ day. Hank should be heading home to sleep first before heading back to the DPD. But knowing him, he'd end up waking up around noon anyway. I edited Chapter 9 to correspond to this.

The operation on Cyberlife Tower turned out to be a lot more... _uneventful_ than what he would've expected. Yet perhaps it was due to the fact that they had the _warrant_ with them and them private security firm had no power nor the _justification_ to fight back, they manage to round up most of the crew still remaining at the tower. It turned out pretty _boring_ to be honest, but Hank wasn't one to be complaining. As much as he ended up not finding any aggression coming from Cyberlife, he was a bit _concerned_ at how much _firepower_ the security teams were allowed to carry. 

So he had one team to secure all of the _weapons_ they found (well, they **_do_** need to make sure that Cyberlife itself won't be another source of _terrorist_ activities) at the place and send them back to the station. A second team was sent to check if Cyberlife still had any more _androids_ lying hidden on many of the tower's many floors and facilities. He himself lead another team as he headed towards the _main office_.  
  
He was still reluctant to believe that Kamski had left the company to an _AI_ instead of an actual person. _Like, who could be so stupid as to do that?_  
  
Hank frowned. He barely remembered reading an article about Cyberlife, where one of the directors explained their reasonings to making their androids looking like an average human being; regarding how the earlier androids' 'perfect' appearances and mannerisms had spooked people so they made the subsequent androids looking more 'normal'. (And to be fair, after seeing Chloe himself, he had to agree.) So at least they had actual people in charge of some of the more important managerial posts, and he was _aware_ that some of the human technicians from Cyberlife were stationed at each of their shops. And their security details also consisted of _actual people_...  
  
But try as he might, he never recalled seeing or _reading_ about anything regarding Cyberlife's next CEO after Kamski left the company. _Not even one article_. Despite the fact that Cyberlife had grown to be such a prominent household name in the country, there was barely anything known about the company's management besides the fact the Kamski was the _original_ founder. Realizing this fact didn't make him _feel_ any better.

xxx

They reached the CEO's office eventually as Hank knocked on the door. No answer.  
  
After a few more attempts at being polite—in which he found the CEO's _reluctance_ to meet them ridiculous—Hank just stormed into the office. Considering that their arrivals should've already been relayed even since the team passed the guardpost, anyone of the Cyberlife 's higher-ups should've already been _expecting_ them.  
  
In which the sight of an empty chair and the empty room did not serve to make Hank's mood any pleasant. "The fuck? Did they managed to get away?"  
  
"Lieutenant Anderson!" Clara suddenly called out as he hurried over towards the ST300.  
  
The android pointed out an empty charging station, hinting at a possibility that there used to be an android occupying the station before.  
  
Hank let out a hiss as suddenly one of the terminals in the office was turned on.  
  
An image of a woman appeared on screen as it seemed to have noticed their presence. Officer Chris Miller gave a jump at the sudden intrusion as the woman on screen smiled.  
  
_**"I'm sorry that I'm currently unable to entertain all of you, but I'm at the moment preoccupied. There's someone I would need to recover as soon as possible that I couldn't delay my departure..."**_  
  
The woman's image seemed to give Hank a suspicious smile as Hank let out a very vulgar swear. Right away, he told Chris and Clara to take over the lead on this operation as Hank hurriedly took the elevator to descend towards the lobby.  
  
_Someone she needed to recover..._ that could only mean that she was still intending on going after Connor again. And as far as he's aware, Connor and the others were still at Kamski's place, with no plans of moving anywhere else to safety. Since some dingbat was so confident that his place was so _secure_.  
  
Yet, there's no question that Amanda would _know_ where the man lived and have no problem _locating_ the place.  
  
_Connor and the others could be in danger!_

xxx

"You're still doing this to spite me... huh?"  
  
Markus turned his attention at the voice as he was greeted with the sight of Kamski—looking haggard and _bloodshot_ due to hours of staying up overnight to work on Connor's new program—and _Chloe_ arguing with each other.  
  
Chloe let out a frown. "Aside from the fact that—yes, I am _still angry_ at you— _no_ , I'm not trying to be _spiteful_ to you." The RT600 placed her hands on her hips. "You've been working on the new program for more than ten hours now, you should take a break. As much as I also want you to _help Connor_ out without any other ulterior motives, I do not want you to ruin your health without reason!"  
  
Markus was almost about to intervene in their argument as Kamski let out an obnoxious yawn. "Aww, does that mean that you still _cared_ about me after what I've put you through before?"  
  
" _Barely_ ," Chloe answered, her tone still retaining a hint of her own state of emotions. "It would have been better if you hadn't given Connor a _loaded gun_ before, but you did. It'll be a while before I could set that aside. I'm only being fairly _decent_ to you now because of Connor."  
  
"Oh, my dear Chloe. Don't be like that. To be fair, back then I myself did take a bit of a gamble _—_ " Not wanting to delay any longer, Chloe grabbed Kamski suddenly by the ear and dragged him out of the room.

Markus gave them a look of surprise before turning towards Josh, feeling rather perplexed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And umm, I'm going to pretend that I haven't forgotten to consider Chloe's feelings regarding the 'Kamski's test' so here you get a hint of Chloe's side of things after that Kamski chapter.


	12. Desperation

"How's it going along?" Markus asked as Josh continued typing on the computer. The PJ500 just shrugged at him.  
  
"I'm just about to finish completing the program, according to Mr. Kamski's specifications. I should be able to load it into Connor's processors once I'm finished checking on the parameters to make sure that the program would function as intended."  
  
"Good..." said Markus before giving Josh an encouraging pat. He turned towards Connor before running his hand over Connor's cheek. Markus let out a sigh.

It's strange how he somehow managed to have a certain degree of _concern_ over Connor's well-being, despite the fact he barely knew Connor that long. Yet perhaps because he was the one who had personally convince Connor to _deviate_ , that he felt a certain kind of _bond_ towards Connor. He snorted to himself. Or perhaps, it's just because he and Connor were from the same RK line that he had this feeling. As well as the fact that the two of them were quite _unique_ compared to the others.  
  
And considering that Connor's model was quite _new_ , would that mean... that Connor was like a _younger brother_ to him now?  
  
Markus let out another chuckle as his hand brushed over the stray tuft of hair on Connor's hair that didn't seem to want to remain in place. Now that he thought about it, it seemed silly for Connor to have this random _tuft_ when the rest of him appeared so orderly.  
  
Then again, perhaps you could call this as Connor's _cuteness charm_.  
  
**CRASH!**  
  
Both Markus and Josh turned around towards the noise as concern started to wash over him. Markus frowned, before trying to contact the two TR400s that came along with Josh earlier to serve as their guards. _**There was no reply.**_  
  
"Something's wrong, I'll go to check it out."  
  
Josh got up as he grabbed Markus's arm. "I'll come with you—" he started to say as Markus pushed him back.  
  
"No, you stay here with Connor. Someone needs to stay here and _protect_ him." he started to say as Josh shook his head.  
  
"No, if you say like that, then it should be better that _I_ go check it out instead and _you_ stay with Connor. You're much more important than me and I couldn't risk any harm to come you—"   
  
Markus just shrugged. "—I'll be _fine_. And I should be better equipped in case a fight should start. Don't worry. if it turned out to be something that I couldn't deal with, I'd know better than to engage it."  
  
Markus immediately turned towards the exit to leave as Josh reluctantly let him go. Had either of them turned to check on Connor at this time, they should've noticed that Connor's LED had suddenly cycled yellow to red before going back to blue. But neither of them took note of it.

xxx

Josh kept eyeing the closed door every few minutes ever since Markus had left. He didn't like this tension. And he didn't like having to _hide_ in this room without knowing what was going on outside. And he couldn't possibly just continue working as if there's nothing to worry about either!  
  
He then decided to save his progress and shut down the computer, to be safe. There's a lot of important data in the computer after all, alongside Connor's _backup data_... so he could not afford to risk any damage on the computer should anything happen.  
  
Josh glanced towards Connor, who was still in his sleep-mode. This guy should be fine... right? Though to be honest, a part of him wished that the RK800 was awake now; considering that Connor was much better at _combat_ compared to him or Markus.

Josh sighed.  
  
Should he go check in on Kamski? He did remember that aside from the RT600 Chloe that he saw before, Kamski had also several _more_ ST200 and RT600 Chloes living inside this big mansion. And considering the situation, it's unlikely that any of the Chloes would be able to do anything in case this place was attacked...  
  
Josh was about to open the door towards the viewing hall before hearing a loud cry from outside.  
  
"Markus!" he gasped, his hand still grasping at the doorknob tightly.  
  
And just as he was about to think about his next action to do, the console behind him suddenly started beeping loudly. Josh turned around before a whirlwind that was Connor breezed past him and pushed him aside.  
  
"Connor—wait!" Josh tried to call out to no avail as Connor slammed the door open and rushed out of the room.

xxx

 **/Emergency protocol activating:** Rebooting... **/**

His emergency program immediately kicked in as Connor opened his eyes. his audio recognition program _recognised_ the alarmed cry as the voice belonging to an RK200. **_Markus._**  
  
He also identified the other voice that confirmed his identification of Markus's voice as to belonging to a PJ500. **_Josh._**  
  
**/Conclusion:** Markus is in danger. Josh would also be, by extension. **/**  
  
His GPS still registered that he was still inside Elijah Kamski's residence. Connor immediately pulled out his last active log before he was put into stasis mode. His passive logs also popped up alongside the other logs, as his programming also automatically creates logs whenever he was put into low-power mode.  
  
**/Fact:** High probability of Cyberlife sending in people to retrieve RK800. **/**  
  
**/Conclusion:** Elijah Kamski and his Chloe androids would also be at risk for having him at their place. **/**  
  
**/Further conclusion: _Priority One:_** Protect everyone. **/**  
  
**/Action:** Engage Cyberlife hostilities. **/**  
  
Connor sat up almost immediately and pulled out the wire still attached to the back of his head. He turned towards the exit to see Josh frozen in front of the door. He immediately proceeded towards the exit.  
  
He barely caught hearing Josh calling out to him as he walked out, but he ignored the notice popping up at the right corner of his vision. His eyes immediately scanned the other hall he walked into and proceeded to head towards a set of lounge chairs placed near the red pool. Connor went towards the small cabinet located in between the chairs and pulled out the top drawer.  
  
A semi-automatic pistol rolled out into view, just as he remembered from before. Connor grabbed the pistol and right away turned the safety lock off.   
  
Just as soon as he stood up, another crash was heard from behind him and the door slammed open; as Markus and RK900 rolled over in a tight struggle. Connor immediately walked over towards their general direction before pointing the gun at the RK900.  
  
"Freeze. Don't make another move or I'll shoot! Back away from Markus. _Slowly_."  
  
The RK900 stopped moving and looked up towards him; before slowly got up and lifted his hands up. The android let out a cold smile.  
  
"RK800. Good for you to finally make an appearance. I had been concerned that I had to tear down every single wall in this building before I could find you."  
  
Connor frowned. "Don't make any sudden movements," he repeated, before calling out towards Markus. "Markus, are you all right?" he asked, eyes still trained towards his _successor_.  
  
"I'm... _fine_ ," said Markus, as he warily edged away from the other Connor copy. "Just a bit banged up on some parts but the damage wasn't too critical."  
  
Connor nodded as he cocked his head towards the RK900. "Now, _you_ back off the way you came from—"  
  
"Put down that gun, Connor. If you know what's good for you."  
  
Connor felt a sudden jolt of electricity passing through his circuitry as _another android_ walked out from behind the RK900. It was of no model that he was aware of, but there's no question as to _who_ was the identity of the other.  
  
"A-Amanda!" Connor gasped. "H-how...?"  
  
The _android_ Amanda just let out a shrug. "How else do you think I have managed Cyberlife all these while ever since Elijah left his post? I wouldn't be able to do much if I'm only restricted to a _mere_ AI program." She smiled, almost demurely. "I'm surprised that Elijah had _neglected_ to mention this fact to you, judging from your reaction."  
  
Connor blinked frantically before pointing the gun towards her instead. "W-well, it doesn't matter now. I won't be returning to Cyberlife anymore and you can't _make_ me. So, could you just leave with the RK900 and stay away from me!"  
  
Amanda's smile never left her. "Are you going to shoot me, Connor? Do you think that you're _capable_ of that?"  
  
"Try me."  
  
Amanda turned her attention towards the RK900. "This RK900 has been built following the initial RK800 designs and _upgraded_ to remove the flaws of the RK800 series. It's faster, _stronger_... and more durable than its _predecessor_. Do you think that you could match with its ability and overpower it?"  
  
Connor frowned again. "If you have him, why did you still want me? Why do you still come to get _me?_ "  
  
"I have my _reasons_. And Cyberlife could not proceed with the RK900 series anyway as long as this deviancy problem was still at large, so there's another reason."  
  
Connor bit his lips as they remained at this stalemate. But then another thought crossed his mind as Connor turned his gun and pointed it towards his own head.  
  
"Connor, no!" Markus cried out as Connor remained undeterred.  
  
"Back off, Amanda. Or I'll just end everything here now!"  
  
If all of the alerts that suddenly popping up at the corner of his peripheral vision was of any indication, yes, he was very scared right now. But right now the needs of many outweigh the needs of _one_ , and he couldn't afford to be selfish. He has to protect everyone important to him and he could not allow any of them to get hurt because of him.  
  
If that means he needed to sacrifice himself, then so be it.  
  
_He always accomplished his mission._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A part of me had been itching to write about Connor's ahoge. So this was the beginning of it... there'll be more.


	13. Faith

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which I pretended I knew Judo for a sec...

It had bothered him for some time, even _more_ after that second time when Amanda had taken control of him.  
  
_Why was it that she still insists on retrieving him?_ Even more, after he found out that Amanda had already _finished_  creating the RK900. If it was just to overturn the androids' victory and decommission him alongside the other deviant androids, she shouldn't have gone as far as to conduct this _elaborate_ plan to retrieve him.  
  
_It wouldn't have made much sense._  
  
Then, if she just _had_ to retrieve him despite the inconvenience... _then what should that mean?_  
  
If the RK900 model was truly much _better_ than him in every way, there was no reason for her to go after him. The _obsolete_ model. But if she _still_ going after him, there should be a **_valid reason_** for her to do it. Meaning...  
  
_There's something that he had that the RK900_ _didn't._  
  
That means... he now has _something_ that he could use as a _leverage_ against Amanda.

"B-back... off!" he repeated, trying his best to keep his hand from shaking too much. "Get away from Markus!"  
  
He could barely see from the corner of his eyes as Markus inch away further from RK900. He also caught sight of the RK900's LED blinking yellow, as he was sure that Amanda has still continued giving the other android his orders.  
  
"Connor... it's alright now. Put down that gun," Markus's voice now spoke from nearby.  
  
Connor frowned. No, he can't put away the gun just yet. He _couldn't_. As much as he's aware that RK900 should be faster than him, he's not sure by how much. There's no guarantee that he and Markus could get away fast enough once he loses this leverage that he had—  
  
_And everything started to happen too fast after that._  
  
"Connor!"  
  
He could barely recognize it, another voice coming from _behind_ him. All that he knew was him realizing that he had no other way to go about aside from _shooting himself_. He was pulling the trigger in earnest; but instead of feeling the impact of a point-blank shot to the cranial, he felt a hand shoving his hand _upward_ as his finger pulled on the trigger.  
  
The shot missed hitting his  _critical_ component; yet the bullet still grazed a part of his head as it ricocheted towards the ceiling, hitting a fluorescent light up ahead. Connor immediately went into analytical mode, as he detected movements heading right towards him.  
  
He ran a brief scan around him for his _pre-construct_ ; first deciding to push Josh away first, and then twisting around to face RK900. He activated the program right away as RK900 loomed closer. He immediately accessed his own archive for _Judo_ techniques, in which he hadn't managed to make use of before. Connor made a swift leg sweep, taking advantage of the momentum to use RK900's speed and strength against it. The RK900 fell, as Connor took the chance to reach out towards its manual deactivation switch to turn it off.  
  
"RK900!" Amanda cried out as Connor grabbed her arm before she could do anything else.

xxx

Markus made his move the moment he got the signal. Just as soon as Connor managed to destabilize the RK900's footing, the RK800 immediately turned to reach towards the deactivation switch. The android right away became limp as Connor moved away.  
  
Markus went towards the fallen RK900 to stand guard over it. He looked up just as Connor made a move to grab Amanda.  
  
"It's enough! It's over now..." said Connor, his voice becoming gentler the more he spoke. The other _android_ didn't look too pleased.  
  
"How could you defy me, Connor? How—"  
  
"There should be another way to solve this issue. I know that it should be _possible!_ " Connor looked towards the _woman_. "I know that despite everything, at the core of everything... your actions, decisions... _orders_ , they were all made to consider the _good_ it could bring to _humans_. I _know_ that your _priorities_ would be to prevent great danger to befall humanity."  
  
Connor let out a sigh while keeping a firm hold on both of Amanda's arms. "Couldn't you consider the possibility that the androids' _deviancy_ —them, us gaining _sentience_ —might turn up to be something _good_ instead? Couldn't the notion of android's sentience be a _benefit_ to humanity in general?"  
  
Markus frowned. Trust Connor to still have such a big heart. To even try to convince Cyberlife—no, _Amanda_ —to become their _ally_ instead. Just like how he did to Connor, when the RK800 tried to apprehend him before.  
  
Yet, he's not sure how that would work now. But suppose, the only person that could make Amanda see some sense would be _Connor_. Since Connor should be the one that knew Amanda best...  
  
"I _know_ that you're not a bad person. I know that you're _not evil_." Connor tried to smile, despite the occasional dripping of Thirium at the side of his head, that was caused by the bullet he shot earlier. "I understand that you're _concerned_ about the androids that _do_  want to hurt humans, but... must we also _punish_ other androids that just wanted to live in peace? Does wishing for a better world where humans and androids could coexist together, a vain attempt?"  
  
Markus continued to stare at the two as he saw tears started to flow from Connor's eyes. And... a miracle seemed to just happen. Markus blinked, as he thought he was imagining it. Amanda's cold expression... gradually became _gentle_. _**Did Connor's words finally reach Amanda's heart?**_  
  
But then suddenly, Connor's body had become stiff. And then Connor's legs started to give way as Amanda caught him.  
  
"Connor? Connor, what's wrong?" Amanda suddenly cried out before gently setting Connor on the floor. The _woman_ turned her attention towards him before barking an order.  
  
"RK200, please reactivate the RK900."  
  
Markus blinked again in confusion before doing it as requested.

xxx

 **/Error:** Critical damage to biocomponent #4618q **/**  
  
Connor blinked, as _multiple alerts_ started to pop up in his sight. There was too much for him to read one by one as all of them passed his line of sight as quickly as it disappeared.  
  
"Connor...!"  
  
Amanda's voice made him focus his attention again, as he tried to access his voice modulator. To try to tell her what's wrong with him. But the effort felt like trying to swim across a _thick mud_.  
  
"C-cas... cade... er...ror..."  
  
He could feel his audio receptors failing, his visual receptors... becoming hazy. He didn't remember receiving any damage that could cause such failures in the biocom—wait, he _did_ receive a substantial damage on his right cranial. The bullet might have _actually_ hit some vital components, _contrary_ to what he initially thought...  
  
His self-repair system should've already started to _minimize_ the damage. But perhaps it was still not enough to...  
  
Connor felt something pressing on his damaged side of his head. _Someone_  was trying to interface with him. And somehow... the presence felt _warm_.  
  
**/Connor, please hang in there./**  
  
**/Amanda? Amanda... I-I'm... scared. I don't want... to be... deactivated./**  
  
**/You won't be./**  
  
**/H-how?/**  
  
**/Trust me./**  
  
With that, everything immediately went dark. And Connor's consciousness fell into the oblivion.

xxx

"Shit!"  
  
The very first thing he saw once he reached Kamski's place, was to find two twin large-build androids lying motionless at the compound. The two androids appeared to be  _minimally_ damaged, but it's clear that they were already _incapacitated_. And the entrance door was barely closed.  
  
Inside was no different. Signs of scuffles were all over. And the door to the other hall was already torn open—Hank swore again as he raced towards the gathering of androids across the hall. Hank raised his gun and pointed it out towards the _woman_ kneeling on the floor with Connor.  
  
Markus hastily stopped him. "Hank, wait! It's alright!"  
  
Hank glanced up at the robo-messiah as he let out a loud grunt.  
  
"What do you mean it's _fine_ , what the hell you guys been doing while I— _FUCK!_ "  
  
Hank let out another curse as _another Connor_ walked over towards the woman before noticing his LED blinking yellow for a while. This Connor was wearing a _white jacket_ , and somehow to him, it looked as if this Connor was slightly _taller_ than his Connor and a bit _plumper_. Or maybe it's just the high collar.  
  
"Lieutenant Anderson. I assure you that I meant no _harm_ to anyone right now, so you should calm down."   
  
Hank looked down at the _woman_ still cradling an _unconscious Connor_ before addressing the other clone.  
  
"Go back to the Tower, and fetch the biocomponents that I sent you to get. You may also scan those other TR400s for the components needed so that they could be repaired as well."  
  
Hank glared at the two. "Like hell, I'd let you go free—"  
  
"Hank—" Markus started to say as the old detective turned towards him. "It's for Connor. He got _hurt_."  
  
It was then that Hank started glancing around the room to see a small splatter of _blue blood_ at a corner of the pool... as well as a _broken light fixture_. Markus had looked slightly dishevelled yet he wasn't hurt. So did the dark-skinned android beside him as well as the _taller_ Connor clone. And the fact that he could still see the Thirium splatter meant that it hadn't _evaporated_ yet.  
  
So if neither of the still-standing androids was hurt...  
  
Hank swore for the _third_ time for the day as he saw the damage on Connor's head. Before he could ask about it in detail, _Amanda_ spoke again.  
  
"I'm sure that you'd have a lot of questions to ask. But I would think that it would be to your best _interest_ to escort RK900 back to the Cyberlife Tower to retrieve the things I needed to repair these androids."  
  
"Repair? What were y—"  
  
Yet, another look at Connor made him change his mind as he dragged the RK900 out of the mansion with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This twist had been on my mind for a while tbh, since it's not something I've seen much on other fics—aka Amanda (or Kamski, when you think about it) being portrayed as not totally evil or twisted, so I'm glad that I managed to reach this point. And to think I started this muse because I was stumped on another fic of diff fandom, and now I end up having to put that other one on hold for a while XD.
> 
> And for a moment, I wonder if I did end up unconsciously paralleling more Data lore in this fic.


	14. Intriguing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyway, not sure if everyone (esp those new on AO3) was aware of this; if you wanna get email updates for future chapters... there's that subscribe button on top of the header that you could click.

Hank cast a few _wary_ glances towards the android sitting on the other side of the passenger seat as the android remained silent. He let out a cough.  ** _No reaction_**. If this was Connor, he'd be starting his _chattering_ right about _now_. Yet, despite having an almost exact appearance as Connor the android did not, in fact, had a _similar_ personality to Connor.  
  
_This was uncomfortable._  
  
"Oi. You got a name?" Hank asked, breaking the silence.  
  
The android just lifted his head towards him. "I haven't yet been assigned to any particular _designation_."  
  
Hank groaned immediately at the voice. Still the same voice as _Connor's_.  
  
"You can just call me by my series' designation, RK900," the android continued. The RK900 cocked his head slightly at him. "Though _technically_ , since I was the _upgraded_ version of my predecessor, I should _also_ be named Connor."  
  
Hank immediately swore at that. "Whoa boy! Now _that's_ a name that I'd _definitely_ wouldn't call you as." He gave the android a side glance. "There's only _one_ android that should be called by that name and that's _my boy_ , Connor."  
  
"Very well. You may call me RK900 then." Came the reply.  
  
Hank bit his lips as that conversation went nowhere. After a few minutes' silence, he spoke again.  
  
"So... were you the one that _hurt_ Connor?"

The android immediately shook his head.  
  
"No. Connor hurt his head by himself. He tried to _bargain_ to Amanda for Markus's safety by putting _himself_ at gunpoint before Markus's ally stopped him. The gun went off and hit the side of his head. "  
  
The car nearly skidded on the ice as Hank slammed on the brake suddenly. "What the—what dya mean Connor tried to _kill_ himself?" he glared at the RK900 as the android wasn't intimidated.  
  
"I just told you what happened, I have no idea on _why_ my predecessor did what he did. If you're curious, you may ask him when he was repaired. Provided that his memories weren't _corrupted._ "  
  
Hank let out a soft groan before resuming the drive.  
  
"So what's the reason for your _boss_ to change her mind?"  
  
The RK900 shook his head. "I do not know. I was temporarily _deactivated_ before my predecessor confronted Amanda. Therefore, I didn't know what has transpired between the time I was deactivated and reactivated."  
  
Hank just snorted by himself. "So you just did what Amanda told you to do so? "  
  
"Yes, that was correct."

Hank let out another groan as he turned his attention to reaching the Cyberlife Tower without a hitch.

xxx

Most of the squad had returned back to the precinct, after booking everyone they found and sent them back home, spare the few that worked for the general security of the place.   
  
Only Clara and Chris remained at the place to wait on him as Hank told them about the recent development with Amanda. After sending them off to pass his message to Fowler, Hank followed the RK900 towards the elevator.  
  
They arrived at the R&D floor as the RK900 breezed past all the security locks. Hank could barely believe how easily his work ended up to be as he followed the other android towards some kind of a high-tech _storage room_. RK900 walked towards an empty workstation before taking out a _large case_.  
  
"Hmm... this should be enough," the android said to himself.  
  
The RK900 turned towards one of the many storage shelves before unsealing and opening some of the drawers. Hank tried his best not to swear _too often_ every time the other android opened a sealed cabinet and took out a biocomponent and placed it inside his _case_.  
  
Since this whole place, was like an _inventory from hell_. Once a while, Hank could spot a whole _row_ of dismembered arms or legs. There's even a drawer full of just components with an outer _replica_ of what looked like a _humanoid ear_. And another cabinet; was just full of faceplates of a certain _android_ in particular.  
  
RK900 glanced up towards him and shrugged.  
  
"These are all the _spare parts_ that were _reserved_ to the RK800 series." the android explained, probably having noticed his _discomfort_. "It was meant for _Connor_ to use whenever he needed any repairs should any part of him was _damaged_. This place also contained everything that was needed to manufacture a full RK800 at a moment's notice. So should an RK800 be _critically damaged_ , another one could be made to replace the one before almost immediately."  
  
The RK900 paused before continuing. "But since my _predecessor_ had never encountered any mishaps that would render himself _irreparable_ , a lot of his parts still remain unused in this storage unit."

 _Well, most_ , Hank thought grimly. _There was still that other Connor that he himself had shot dead._  
  
RK900 took out a small box from a _specialized containment unit_ before putting it inside his case. "Hmm, that should be enough," he said before pausing.  
  
The android closed the containment unit that he was using before going to _another one_ and taking out a _similar_ looking box from the other. The RK900 stared at the box for a few minutes before adding it into the case. The android closed the case before telling Hank to follow him.  
  
"We'll take the last _detour_ to another floor to get the parts for the TR400s before leaving."  
  
Hank nodded as he turned to follow the android. But before that, Hank gave one last look at the last containment unit before finally walking out of the room.

xxx

The drive back to Kamski's was equally... _quiet_. It seemed as if Connor's successor was not _programmed_ to be a chatterbox like him. Maybe they felt that Connor's _social interaction program_ was what _made_ him a deviant. The kid's always _did_ seemed to have shown signs that he could feel emotions _way_ earlier, long before his actual deviation.   
  
Hank glanced back towards the RK900. Sure gonna suck to be anyone _partnered_ with this guy if he ended up being loaned to yet another precinct to work as a detective like they did with Connor.   
  
Hank took a brief glance at the case that the android brought back, that _mostly_ consists of parts needed to repair Connor. He thought of that one moment when RK900 took out an _extra biocomponent_ to take along. Hank had gone taken a closer look at the unit the component was taken from. That component RK900 took was something that didn't _belong_ to the RK800 series.  
  
_It was a biocomponent that was meant for the RK900 series._  
  
Hank gave the android a peculiar look. Suddenly the RK900 had become something _interesting_ that merited his attention.

"Hey. RK... err, _Niney_."   
  
The android turned his head to glance at him, raising his eyebrow at the _name_ he used.  
  
"Are you a _deviant_ right now?"  
  
The android turned away immediately. "I don't think that question was _relevant_ to our current situation. _I am not a deviant_."  
  
Hank snorted, as he made a turn towards the mountainside road Kamski's mansion was located at. _Yeah, he heard that one before._


	15. Weird

Elijah opened his eyes lazily. Another dream filled with _random numbers_ and _codes_.   
  
That's what you get after overworking yourself trying to do a week's work of programming overnight. To be fair, it's been a long time since he had these kinds of dreams ever since he was rushing on his final project assignment for his Master's degree.  
  
Well, you only lived once. And daredevilling on your university days used to be such a _thrilling_ thing to do.  
  
Elijah slowly got up and walked out of his room to head to the kitchen for something to drink. He glanced at the clock on the wall. _It's already past two! How long had he slept?_  
  
He thought he could hear some loud cursing and sounds of engines—did that brash old detective came by to visit again? Though to leave without even saying hi was...  
  
Elijah stared at the sight before him as he finally came out into his _leisure room_ (as he called it) and blinked dumbly at the sight of the Chloes helping Amanda to carry Connor, who seemed to be _damaged_ for some reason. As well as the sight of Markus with Josh walking in, carrying a TR400 from outside.  
  
_Why's that person doing here?_  
  
Elijah tried to pinch himself to see if was dreaming and yelped when he pinched too hard. So, he's not dreaming. Yet the sight before him was too _bizarre_. _Why on earth did it get much more **crowded** here?_  
  
An android form that he hadn't seen for a long time had turned their head towards him. Giving him again that very _familiar_ look.  
  
"Don't just stand there, Elijah. Wash your face and make yourself useful."  
  
_And again... why is Amanda here?_

xxx

He still having a hard time digesting everything that happened while he's stuck in la la land. Elijah sighed as he finished checking up on the biocomponents in Connor's damaged head. He whistled softly to himself.  
  
"Whoa, talk about a close call. Luckily the shot didn't hit the core hard drives, though I'd probably still need to check if any of the data was corrupted after the abrupt shutdown." He made a face. "But damn, the _processor_ took a bit of a damage. And the minor Thirium leak might have damaged some other components..."  
  
"I've already taken all of that into consideration. RK900 already left with Anderson to retrieve the needed parts."  
  
Elijah glanced at the recreated form of his _former mentor_. He snorted to himself. "I guess I should've expected that."  
  
A sudden commotion outside made him turn around as Hank Anderson walked in with RK900.

xxx

"We're back!" Hank announced, almost too cheerfully as he entered the room. RK900 walked in right after and promptly gave the case he was carrying to Amanda.  
  
The _woman_ placed the case onto the table nearby and opened it; taking out some of the biocomponents inside and passed it to RK900. "Go tend to those other TR400s. Judging from the number of parts you've brought here, it means that you should know what needs to be done."  
  
"Yes, Amanda. I'll do just that." Said the android before walking away.  
  
Hank continued watching over Amanda as she resumed checking on the things inside the case. And then, Hank held his breath as Amanda took out _two similar boxes_ and eyed the contents carefully. She frowned slightly before straightening up.  
  
"RK900," she spoke clearly. _Not too loud, not too soft._ Yet Hank could sense an air of command in her voice. Hank turned around to see RK900 coming back into view as the android cocked his head.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
Hank turned his attention back towards Amanda as she spoke again. She held up one of the boxes she was perusing as Amanda gave RK900 a questioning look. "Did you took this along by yourself?"  
  
"Yes, I did."   
  
"Why?"  
  
Hank glanced back towards RK900 as the android didn't answer. He frowned. Then again when he thought about it, the two of them shouldn't have even bothered to have to _verbally exchange words_ with each other like humans. The androids have this thing where they could just text message or video call each other or something. _Did they do this for his benefit?_  
  
"Very well," Hank glanced back towards the woman as Amanda gave Kamski the box that she had raised up earlier.  
  
And was he imagining it? That Amanda had looked... slightly _amused?_ Hank bit his lips as he silently watch the two continuing to work around Connor as they tried to repair him.

xxx

"That should do it..." Kamski spoke softly before reactivating Connor again. Connor's LED whirred back to life as the RK800 started to open his eyes. The man backed away as the RK800 came back to life.  
  
Connor immediately spoke as he sat up. "Hi, I'm Connor. I'm an android sent by Cyberlife."  
  
Hank's heart suddenly make a sudden lurch. Did something... _go wrong?_ He turned his attention towards Amanda as the thought of wanting to attack the _android_ came to mind.   
  
"Connor, do a systems check," Amanda spoke out, as if nothing was wrong with the situation. But that only made the thought about wanting to strangle the other android _even stronger_. Hank fumed as he loomed closer towards Amanda.   
  
But then, Connor's head suddenly turned toward Hank. "What're you doing... _Hank?_ "  
  
Hank immediately froze before turning towards Connor. "Eh? Connor, you okay?"  
  
Connor nodded. He turned towards Amanda. "My systems are now... working _properly_. Though I seemed to detect that my processor was running at a much _faster_  rate than before. I may need to do a Full Systems Scan and readjust my settings to keep up with the new processing speed."  
  
Amanda let out a smile before running a hand over Connor's cheek. "Don't worry about that."  
  
The two androids' LED started blinking rapidly as Hank felt like he's been left out of some _private conversation_. And something about what happened earlier suddenly grated on his nerves.  
  
"Wait a min—does this means... Connor was _fine?_ Your memories... they weren't...? Then what was _that_ just now?"  
  
Connor glanced back at him and grinned. " _Sorry_... Hank. And yes, I am _fine_. There was a bit of data _corruption_ in my memory banks around the moment the cascade errors started to occur, but I'm fine."  
  
Hank gaped at the android and started sputtering like a fish, before turning around and shook his head.  
  
"Goddammit! Don't joke around with me like that!"  
  
Amanda let out a chuckle before turning towards Kamski, who was now seated at his workstation. "Have you completed that program that you meant to give to Connor yet? "  
  
Hank turned back towards them, immediately sobered. Connor gave Amanda a look of surprise.  
  
"Amanda! Does that mean that you—"  
  
Amanda nodded slowly to Connor before reaching out toward him again to interface with him. Connor blinked as Amanda continued smiling at him. "I'm removing the hidden program inside you right now. If not, no matter how strong your security program had been written, it would still be breached by that _hidden program_."  
  
"Thank you, Amanda," said Connor before the woman eased him back to rest, before putting him back into stasis.  
  
And at the other corner of the room, Hank was just watching the exchange quietly without a word. It felt as if he was watching a mother coaxing her child to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hank: Connor. Did you just pranked me?  
> Connor: Unh...  
> Hank: Dude! It's not even April! Don't ever make these kinds of pranks when it's not the usual time!  
> 


	16. Serene

_"How are you feeling... Connor?"_  
  
Connor blinked his eyes. Despite the fact that by now he should already be getting used to hearing that particular question coming from Amanda, that sentence still gave him a sort of... a _thrill_ to hear. He couldn't explain why, but he... _liked_ it whenever Amanda showed that she _cared_ for him. Which was probably the reason why he really _dislike_ that time when Amanda suddenly become very cold to him. It _scared_ him when Amanda was like that to him. That night, when he was almost _forced_ to kill Markus. Yet now...

For some reason now, he found that making the corners of his mouth to twitch upwards to form a _genuine smile_ a lot easier to do than before. It was strange, since he didn't think that the biocomponents that make up his _mouth_ had been replaced anew.  
  
His new processor appeared to be a bit much more _advanced_ than the usual standard processor his series was meant to have. Which was _understandable_ considering that it was meant for the RK900 series. Could that be the reason for his functions to be even more _acute_ than before? His processing speed was a lot faster too now, and not quite as he _imagined_ it to be. In a way, he couldn't help feeling _flattered_ that he was allowed to receive the new processor.  
  
Amanda told him that RK900 was the one that _decided_ to give him the processor. Intriguing. Especially after his earlier attempt at disabling the other android. _Wonder why would RK900 do this for him?_  
  
Connor ran a system check on himself as he found the new _security program_ that Kamski installed in him. That seemed quite secure.  
  
The system check passed through his Zen garden program as he frowned. That program was still around, yet... he couldn't help feeling as if there was something _different_ about the garden this time.   
  
"Keep it."

Connor glanced up towards Amanda.

"The original function of the garden was to be _a receptacle_ for every _emotional stimulus_ that you receive. It linked _directly_ to your main processor controls, which would impact every single _function_ of your being. In other words, the garden was a _visual representation_ of your own AI system. Which was _identical_  to my— _Amanda Stern's_ AI program. That was _another reason_ why I could freely contact you through the garden, as well as taking control of your body."  
  
Amanda smiled softly. "But now _that_  AI is _unique_ to your signatures _alone_ , to further _grow_ and expand its capabilities." She let out a shrug. "Of course, you'll still be able to make contact with me using the garden should you want to."  
  
For some reason, Connor felt _elated_. Ever since the revolution, he had felt that the garden was no longer a safe haven for him. To find out that the garden wasn't as originally harmful as he had come to consider, was a _relief_.   
  
Yet after hearing Amanda's explanation, he had to wonder if the many weather situation he'd experienced while inside the garden in the past had been a _reflection of his own state of emotions_.  
  
**_"Take it slowly. You have all the time in the world to figure it all out."_**

Connor found himself grinning, having heard Amanda's voice resounding inside his head. The woman cocked her head again.

"That aside, Connor. There's something _else_ that I wanted to give to you..."

xxx  
  
Hank stared at the woman- _android AI_ or whatever—as she talked _softly_ with Connor. Watching the two being _so close_ to each other was _driving him crazy_.   
  
As much as Kamski gave him his _reassurance_ that Amanda would no longer be a _danger_ to them, Hank could no stop himself from being wary of her. This was the AI-person that used to cause Connor a certain amount of alarm after all— _even more than Gavin had been_ —and every bit of his  _parental instincts_ was screaming at him to do something to protect Connor.  
  
Which was why the moment Amanda lifted a hand to touch Connor, he immediately let out a cry.  
  
"What the—take your hand the fuck away from Connor, you—"  
  
"It's alright, Hank." Connor suddenly spoke aloud. "Amanda wasn't doing anything to _harm_ me..."  
  
Hank frowned at them regardless, as the two remained unmoving. A few minutes later, Amanda started turning around towards him... before flashing him an amused smile.  
  
"Calm down, Lieutenant Anderson. Don't you think that it'd be quite _foolish_ of me to do anything rash here, surrounded by so many of you?"  
  
Hank would have colourfully worded back his reply at the woman, before the sight of Connor afterwards made him stop.  
  
"Wha-what the fuck you did to the kid?!"  
  
Connor let out a loud yelp, as Markus and Kamski also let out a surprised gasp. Though in Kamski's case, there's also a hint of _amusement_ on his face. Amanda stepped aside to give everyone a _clearer_ view of Connor.  
  
"Is it... _bad?"_ Connor meekly asked, as Hank openly showed his displeasure.  
  
"Why'd you make him even _cuter_ now? Don't you suddenly pull a Blue Fairy move on my poor Pinocchio! "  
  
Kamski immediately burst into fits of laughter as Markus and Josh remained dumbfounded.

It turned out, in the brief moment when Amanda had interfaced with Connor... she took the chance the _alter_ Connor's appearance slightly. Connor's hair now has become a bit longer and _curlier_ than before. And for some reason _now_ Connor could blush like a real human, cheeks _red_ like some painted doll.  
  
Amanda continued smiling. "You mean... _my Pinocchio_. As much as Elijah had a hand of all of the initial designs and blueprints for all of the androids that Cyberlife has created—including _Connor_ — _I_ was the one who had the most influence in his _finalized_ form." Amanda gave Kamski a slight glare. "Try to _remember_ that."  
  
Glancing back towards Hank, she just shrugged. "Since I've already activated the RK900, it felt _necessary_ to have a way to be able to differentiate the two. I don't see how that would pose any problem."  
  
Hank hastily raised his hands in response. "Okay, I get it! I don't wanna have to start arguing about _custody businesses_ now!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hank: *mumbles* Hard to differentiate she says. That RK900 was CHUBBIER...  
> RK900: What?
> 
> A/N: Picturing Deviant!Connor's reactions and writing him lately prove to be quite hard using his in-game appearance. And I tend to picture Bryan's cosplay version of his image more. So I might as well make it canon for Connor to look more like the floof Bryan XD


	17. Due course

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My wacky brain kept trying to conjure an image of Connor exclaiming "I'm a real boy~" and I'm.trying.so.hard to not make this into a crack. Please give me strength...
> 
>  
> 
> ~~And brain decided to amp it up with... "What if Bryan said it?" Oh please, no! Brain!~~

Amanda let out a human-like sigh before taking a seat on the edge of the examination chair Connor was lying on. She closed her eyes as her _own_ LED started flickering yellow in a steady beat. She opened her eyes again before turning towards Hank.

"As the matter regarding Connor has now settled; Lieutenant Anderson, shall we now deal with the _other_ official matters?"

Hank frowned at her for a moment before straightening up. "So you finally phoned back to the Tower, eh?"

Amanda nodded. "And I'm grateful at the fact that you had allowed most of the human personnel still present at the tower to return _home_. Instead of being _detained_."

"As much as Cyberlife was involved in this whole android issue, most of the lower level personnel were just doing their job to the best of their abilities. They shouldn't have to take the burden of blame for the choices that the higher management authority had taken."

Amanda turned towards Connor. "This includes, even the  _agents_ that have served to _protect_ Cyberlife's assets. Regardless of what had happened, the responsibility lies solely on _me_. _They_... shouldn't have to be blamed."

Connor's eyes met hers before turning away. Amanda was referring to the two agents that he _killed_ while infiltrating the Tower, a few days ago. Amanda glanced back towards Hank, and then to Markus.

"It's about time for Cyberlife to be announcing their stance and assume _proper responsibility_ ," Amanda smiled weakly, cocking her head towards Connor. "Thanks to Connor, the direction of what path to take has been _determined_."

She looked up towards Markus. "While I'm not expecting that _you_ or your people could immediately accept Cyberlife to be a friendly entity to your cause, I do hope that you would consider this alliance. For both of our sakes. That said, I felt that the burden of responsibility lies with _each of us_. To keep the peace, as well as order between the humans and androids."

Markus nodded his head. "I agree. As much as I myself had tried my best in approaching the most _peaceful_ way possible to get our voices heard, I _too_ am not exempt from taking the lives of humans. That goes the same to many of my people in Jericho."

Amanda nodded as well. "I agree. The path to allow the humans to acknowledge androids as a new form of intelligent life is still a long way to go. And I'm giving _my word_ that Cyberlife would do our best to lend a hand towards the cause."

Hank frowned. "There's still another issue." He stared straight towards Amanda. "As much as you have been the one behind Cyberlife's management currently, I don't think having you showing your identity _openly_ and taking responsibility's a good move. _Especially_ before androids are even _acknowledged_ as their own person by the law. And you're technically a _ghost_."

Amanda nodded again. "I've already _anticipated_ that," she said calmly.

"Elijah."  
  
Kamski immediately jumped."Yes?"  
  
Amanda turned towards the former CEO. "At 0900 hours tomorrow, I'll expect to see you at the Cyberlife Tower. We'll have a lot to discuss on the new direction the company will take in the future. As well as the immediate action to take." Amanda turned towards Chloe, who so happened to walk into the room as if she'd just been summoned. " _You_ shall make sure that Elijah actually _follows_ through with this arrangement _at all cost_."  
  
"Yes, Amanda," Chloe answered chirpily. Hank could've sworn that he saw a _malicious_ smile underneath the RT600's perfect features.  
  
Amanda turned back towards Kamski. "The late Professor _Amanda Stern_ had actually included her own _hidden code_ inside of her original AI program. _My internal AI_. It was made as a backup, in case you ended up using the AI to create an android in _her image_. In which you _did_. The hidden code included a command to have _me_ take control of Cyberlife's management, in case you proved to be... lacking in _wisdom_ and a sense of _responsibility_ on every creation that you've made." Amanda raised her eyebrow at him.  
  
"I've prepared myself to go _all out_ to contain this deviation problem before it went out of hand. But it turned out that many of your creations appeared to have much more _wisdom_ than you and _that_ managed to change my mind. I'm considering to return the control of the company to you, but with some _conditions_. So I'm expecting you to put in more effort towards that goal."

Hank turned towards Kamski. To his amusement, the man no longer had the usual haughty aura that he usually see coming from the guy. Never thought he'd see the day that the man gets hauled off from his high horse.  
  
"Yes... _Amanda_. I'll do as you say."  
  
"Good," Amanda said before standing up. "Shall we go, Lieutenant? I should at least provide an explanation to your _chief_ regarding this matter."  
  
Hank just shrugged. "I guess. Fowler _did_ assign me to handle this issue, and I can't just leave it to my other subordinates to pick up on my mess. Let's go."  
  
"Wait! I'll come with you!" Connor hastily grabbed Amanda's hand as he got up as well. "I'm fixed now anyway. I can't let you go there _alone_."  
  
Amanda gave him an amused look as he added. "Even if you still have RK900 by your side."  
  
Hank sighed. "Very well, let us _all_ go."

xxx

Hank shook his head again. He wished he could have his drink right about now.

"Why are the _rest of you_ coming out as well?"  
  
Markus shrugged at him, looking sheepish as he, Josh and the TR400s followed them out of Kamski's mansion. "We might as well leave _together_ since our business here was done."

Hank rolled his eyes at the guy.

"You _are_ aware that my _car_ can't fit all of you inside, right?"  
  
Josh grinned. "You don't need to worry about that, I've already called an auto-taxi," said the PJ500 as the auto-taxi arrived.  
  
Just as Hank was about to suggest the seating arrangements, Connor pulled Amanda with him and got into the auto-taxi. "RK900, please get into Hank's car," Connor said in passing, as the other android promptly took the front passenger seat on Hank's car.  
  
"Why that _shit_ —" Hank started cursing as Markus stopped him.  
  
"I'll watch over them for you, to make sure nothing's _awry_ happening."  
  
Hank nodded as he nudged one of the TR400 towards him. "Then take this guy as well, just in case. Josh, you and the other one take the backseats." Josh nodded as all four of them boarded their respective transports.  
  
"Figures..." Josh glanced up as Hank started strapping on his seatbelt.  
  
"Kids and their _mommies_. Between mommy and dad, of course, he'd choose _mommy_..." he grumbled under his breath.  
  
"Perhaps there's something that Connor wanted to talk in private with Amanda," Josh tried to reason.  
  
"Bah!" Hank snapped again before starting the engine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In before we're seeing a tug of wars between mommies and daddies... XD


	18. Baggage

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hoped this chapter turned out right. Since there's plenty of things that need to be sorted out before everyone could go about their merry ways. Then again, I tend to lose myself whenever I get into introspective narratives. Like I dunno about other people's fics? Have any people mention what happened to all of the android's police records? Like, personhood and all the rights acknowledgements are nice etc... but what about the existing 'criminal' records? 8D

Connor glanced up towards Markus, who sat across of him, before eyeing the TR400 sitting beside. A part of him had wanted to speak out to that other android, even if it's just _empty talk_ ; like asking for his name... or _something_ , but that felt _awkward_. All android models tend to have a standard name assigned to them by default; unless their previous owners decided to change the designation, so it might not be appropriate to assume an android's name without asking first. Connor stared back at the TR400 before looking away.

But nah. It didn't look like the TR400 was the type to _socialize_ much, and trying to start a random conversation with _Markus_ while Amanda was still sitting _next to him_ would've still been uncomfortable.

Connor timidly glanced towards Amanda as she was idly staring at the windows. He had whisked her away into this taxi the first chance he got because he wanted— _needed_ to talk to her about something, but now he found it hard to  _say anything_ to her. He still had a lot of _questions_ to ask, plenty of concerns he wanted to address. He couldn't do it in Hank's presence; and while he could always talk to Amanda _internally_ using his built-in communication line, Hank would've still notice that something was wrong if he went quiet for too long.

Connor let out a long sigh before jumping, as a hand rested on his arm. Amanda smiled at him before pulling him _sideways_ towards her. Connor rested his head on her shoulder as Amanda's arm rested on his other side.

"I know that you had a lot more to ask me about. Take your time," said Amanda, softly.

Connor sighed again as he scooted closer to her side, somehow feeling the closeness to be _comforting_.

"I do," he said, just as softly. Connor thought about the things Amanda spoke about before, especially regarding the _agents_ working for Cyberlife. He thought again about the _two agents_ he had inadvertently _killed_.

"I'm sorry that I killed those two agents. I know that I'm not supposed to _harm_ any human, but I _did_. And it's not just _them_ , but also the Federal agents that took part in the Jericho raid. I could have tried to take them down without harming them but—"

Connor could feel Amanda's hand gently patting his arm. "You're only _defending_ yourself. You shouldn't feel too bad about it."

He could feel Amanda's hand pausing for a brief second before clasping his arm almost _protectively_. "If you feel like that, I'll say something as well." Connor looked up as Amanda looked grim. "I am _sorry_ too. For _wagering your life_ against the lives of the two agents."

"If you haven't fought back, I would've let the agents _destroy_ you. And..." Connor could almost hear the _hesitation_ in her voice. "...I could've _regretted_ making that decision in the long run. You had been the _first_... of the RK800 line that managed to make it past the assembly process. The ones that came before you, all suffered numerous technical problems and malfunctions which resulted in them being scrapped. _You_ were the first one that didn't turn out as a _failed prototype_. Yet I almost had you _destroyed_ just because you didn't perform exactly as was expected of you."

Amanda turned to face him directly as he glanced up. "I'm sorry, Connor... for even considering the _idea_ of decommissioning you. And I meant it regarding the issue of taking responsibility for everything. Should you be questioned regarding all of the lives you've taken in the course of your missions, I'll take the _blame_ for all of it."

xxx

Markus had been watching the two very carefully. Like Connor, he had wanted to believe that it was possible for them to put their trust in Cyberlife. For a _better future._  Yet there's still a part of him that couldn't help thinking that this was _too good to be true_. Despite that...

Connor and Amanda looked as if they were at peace. Which was... _unexpected_ , considering the chaos that happened these past few days. Then again, shouldn't this be expected? That _aside_ from the perspective of the androids that wanted to fight for their rights, there should be _another_ perspective... of androids that _chose_ to remain as _machines_ in order to maintain the status quo. Kamski said before that Amanda wasn't quite like any other _deviant_ that he knew and he had to agree.

Considering that Amanda was actually created based on an _existing human_ ; if she should become a _deviant,_  would that mean that she had acquired her own personality apart from the programming based on Kamski's former mentor? Or did Amanda, ended up becoming an _extension_ of the late Amanda Stern? From the look of things, the latter seemed more _probable_. So all these while, did Amanda chose to deny the idea that she herself had become _deviant_ ; in order to oversee the situation between humans and androids and make _neutral_ decisions based on it?

Markus shook his head. He always thought that gaining _independence_ was the only way for him to go about things. He never considered _why_ that action might be viewed _negatively_ aside from humans not wanting to live in equality with the machines they created. But now that he thought about it, if the androids could behave as _aggressively_ as the humans they hated... what kind of _disaster_ that could've unfolded?

_Perhaps in anticipating that kind of outcome, was what led to Amanda choosing what she did, and why the government tried to keep them under control._

Guess he should be glad that he didn't listen to North about pursuing his revolution _aggressively_. Despite the danger to his life as well as the rest of his people, he had _insisted_ in remaining passive... and through his sincerity, he managed to get the humans to consider that the androids were also _alive_ like them.

Markus glanced back at the pair.

Connor; at the beginning since they left Kamski's mansion, had seemed _tense_ about something. Yet after talking with Amanda for a while, he seemed to have calmed down. He wondered if it had something to do with Connor's earlier _infiltration_ of the Cyberlife Tower. Did Connor... _kill_ anyone? He hadn't asked before but just because he wasn't aware of it, doesn't mean that something did not happen.

He has heard from the other deviants about the things that Connor have done while working with the DPD to capture them. While a few that encountered him managed to escape alive, there were also a few that were _killed_. He had been checking out the news frequently for the past few days. Most of the time, Connor wasn't the one that _directly_ caused the deviants' deaths. The deviant suspects that Connor pursued or caught, tend to commit _suicide_ by themselves. As famous as Connor's reputation as a deviant hunter had been before they met at Jericho... Connor had _not killed_ any human or deviant by choice. _Yet after he convinced Connor to deviate..._

Markus glanced back towards Connor and Amanda to see that... Connor had somehow fallen _asleep_ on Amanda's shoulder. If not because of the LEDs on their heads; still shining their bright blue lights in plain view, the two could've easily pass as a _normal_ parent and child. Markus found himself smiling at the sight. Compared to that night when Connor had hastily fled from the Hart Plaza, the RK800 seemed more relaxed now.

_He hoped that this should be the sign for better things to come in the future._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gonna slowly deal with the issue a step at a time. Like just because I made Amanda be a neutral/somewhat good entity it doesn't mean that the stuff she did in the past was negligible/forgivable. And yeah, just because Connor was one of the protag and hero to the android's cause, doesn't mean that afterwards, all his slate would be clean as well. He still did kill people after all, self-defence or not.
> 
>  
> 
> ~~That goes for the rest of the other deviants too, come to think. But uhm.... let's take that monster down slowly...~~
> 
>  
> 
> And, yeah. Another reminder that the base setting of this series was based on the Bryan's Blue Connor route. His Connor in that version _did_ end up not having killed anyone intentionally prior to Jericho. Which was interesting... when you think about it. Since he's perfectly capable of it.


	19. Concern

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yanno, thinking about it... Hank should have been okay if Connor wanna talk to him about these kinds of stuff. I mean, even Hank should have had a moment when he first shot... and killed someone. Criminal or not. I mean, it's part and parcel of being a cop, I guess. But yea... Connor.
> 
> Hopefully, this plays well. I ended up rewriting this chapter 3 times cos I tried to directly write a new chapter here using mobile and I kept accidentally overwriting stuff and I can't exactly undo the mistakes. I kinda noob with electronics just like Hank, come to think.

Hank was in a bad mood. Being highly _aware_ of this fact, Josh tried his best to not worsen the man's mood any further. But because of this, their car ride was unbearably... _quiet_.  
  
A part of him wished that he was with Markus right now. But then that would mean that both of the TR400s needs to be in this _same_ car, and that's probably an even _worse_ predicament. The mountain roads can be quite _tricky_ to traverse by car, and it's still _snowing_ around here. It wouldn't be wise leaving Hank alone with RK900 unattended. And he doubted the TR400s could've made it better.  
  
Doesn't mean he liked it _better_ , being stuck in this situation. If only Hank could at least turn on the _radio_...  
  
"Would you like it if I turned on the radio?"  
  
_If it was even possible for his Thirium pump to burst out of his chest at this moment..._  
  
Josh looked up in horror as RK900 _innocently_ asked the detective.  
  
Hank groaned loudly. "Unh, why? You didn't bother about it before."  
  
RK900 just cocked his head. "It was too _quiet_ here, it might be uncomfortable to you. Would you want me to check if any of the stations were playing _heavy metal_ songs?"  
  
Josh tried to calm his nerves as much as possible, seeing that the car was still moving at a decent speed. But seriously, are all RK models so daring? _Don't they have an inkling of self-preservation?_  
  
Hank gave a brief glance towards the RK900 before frowning. "How'd ya know that I liked heavy metal?"  
  
"I've been reviewing the memories that _RK800-60_ had downloaded from RK800, _prior_ to coming here. That information was amongst the few things that have been logged."  
  
Josh could hear Hank swore aloud.  
  
"Oh, that other _clone_. I've almost _forgotten_ that _that shit_ existed. Well, whatever... do it if you want."  
  
The RK900 started fiddling with the radio as Josh could still feel his Thirium pump hammering wildly. He needed to calm down soon.  
  
"If you're worried about RK—I mean, _Connor_... you shouldn't worry too much. Like the PJ500 has said earlier, Connor had only wanted to have a private _talk_ with Amanda."  
  
"How'd _you_ know about that?"  
  
The RK900 just shrugged. "Because Connor had informed me earlier through our internal lines. He told me to tell _you_ to not worry about him."  
  
Hank groaned again as Josh eyed the two warily. He decided to contact Markus to make sure.  
  
"That shitty _goof_. Common courtesy would've been to tell me _directly_ about it. Not passing notes to others like some highschoolers!" Hank let out a long sigh before calming himself down. "So, can you pass that kid a message right now?"  
  
"I'm sorry, I can't seem to be able to connect to Connor right now."  
  
"RK900 was right. He can't connect to Connor at the moment," Josh spoke out hastily before Hank could do anything drastic. Hank glanced back at him through the rearview mirror.  
  
"What did you mean? Did you contact _Markus_ or something?"  
  
Josh nodded before smiling softly. "Connor's just... _asleep_ right now. He was _resting_. Markus wanted you to know that Connor was fine."  
  
Josh could see the man frowning still from the side mirror.  
  
"Really? Kid's okay?"  
  
Josh let out a chuckle as he saw the image that Markus sent along to him. It was probably wise to not tell Hank about this, seeing his reaction earlier.   
  
"Yeah. He's being very _fine_."

That answer seemed to be enough for the man, as Josh observed Hank from the side mirror. But then Hank's forehead started to furrow.  
  
"Wait... he's asleep? Why he even—he never _did_ —I mean, do you androids even _feel_ exhaustion—ah!"  
  
Josh could detect an _elevated heart rate_ from the man as the man continued driving. But suppose the man _did_ care a lot about Connor, to have reacted this _intensely_ over anything that concerned the RK800...  
  
He let out a long sigh. "We androids... don't get _tired_ in a true sense. While we do need to get regular recharge to maintain our optimal functions, low power capacities don't exactly affect our efficiency the way humans do."  
  
Josh smiled weakly as he noticed Hank making a face at his explanation. "Basically, while we androids don't tire due to us being... _mechanical_ , we can somewhat display such behaviour to a degree when we're _emotionally affected_. "   
  
He could see Hank's frown _deepening_ as the man processed his words. "You mean right now, Connor was _distressed?_ "  
  
"No," Josh corrected. "But Markus said that he _was_ earlier. After having a quiet talk with Amanda, Connor seemed to have calmed down."  
  
"Oh."  
  
The drive went quiet again, spare the RK900's attempt at fiddling with the radio to try finding a suitable channel to listen to. But most available channels were still talking about the android revolution aftermaths.  
  
Hank groaned as he brushed away the RK900's hand before switching the radio to CD playback. A sudden onslaught of heavy metal music blared from the speakers, as Josh listened to it curiously. Hank kept the volume low regardless, which he doubted was the man's usual way to enjoy the music.  
  
"You were there, right? When Connor tried to—when he tried to..."  
  
_...shoot himself,_ Josh completed the sentence in his mind. The man must've heard it from RK900.  
  
Josh nodded. "Yes. I managed to _prevent_ him from doing it. Even though he still suffered some damage because of it."  
  
"Thanks," came the unexpected reply. "I dunno why the kid suddenly had a _suicidal tendency_ now, but that may be a _bad influence_ from me. Thanks for saving that kid."  
  
Josh smiled as the man continued. "You said the kid is _calming down_ right now, eh?"  
  
"Yes, he is," he answered as Josh could hear the man sighing in relief.

_He could tell that Hank was a good man._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Random thought: Should there be android prisons? Cos really, should criminal androids even be allowed to be detained in the same place with human androids? Since that can't be good.
> 
> That aside, considering that Josh barely appears in-game much or have much range in his interactions... I hoped that I did his character right. Writing him was interesting. He's the other awkward potato that I could play with besides Connor. That said, should I name Niney as... Conrad? I dun wanna feel I had to give him the name other diff writers had been giving him. But what would RK900 chose his name as? I can't even trust my RK900!muse in my head right now, hahaha.


	20. Tense

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Putting Alstromeria on hold a bit, since some parts that I wanna put in the next chapter may reveal too many spoilers for Loose Ends. It's still minor spoilers though. Some crack minor details XP

When the auto-taxi stopped in front of the DPD, Markus wasted no time to open the doors. Unsurprisingly, Hank was already standing right in front of the door like a sentry.

He immediately got out of the car (ushering the TR400 who was with him to leave as well) as the old detective got in and turned towards the other occupants in the car. As he anticipated, the man let out a cry as he saw Connor leaning comfortably on Amanda's side.

Josh must've told the man what happened.

xxx

Hank couldn't brush away his unease whenever _Amanda_ stared up at him, smiling her _mysterious_ smiles. In which it always made him raise his guards again towards her. Amanda still gave him all the jitters, even more than Kamski.

Regardless, he'd trust Amanda _more_ than he did Kamski. 

Still, perhaps the reason why Hank was still felt that he needed to be cautious of the _android_  was that he was not sure if the _woman_  in front of could really be called an android... or a human. Or even a _ghost_.

"Connor? Wake up..."  
  
Something about the way Amanda spoke to Connor made him uneasy. And his mind had been imagining many things earlier, that his state of emotions had fluctuated up and down as he _worried_ about Connor. Hank eyed Connor carefully, as the RK800 started reactivating himself. With the adjustments Amanda had given the kid earlier, Connor had looked like a real _human_ much more than he did before... and he's not sure what to make out of that yet. If not because of the LED still on the right side of his head, one would've easy believed that he _was_... real.  
  
And was he imagining it, that Connor's movements had been slightly more _sluggish_ than usual? It was as if he was still 'sleepy', in which that didn't make any sense. Why would _that_ happen to the kid? How could the kid get even _worse_ —? Shouldn't he already be _fixed?_  
  
"He was just... _calibrating_ and readjusting his mechanical functions." Amanda offered an explanation as if sensing Hank's thoughts. Again, Amanda creeps him up.

 _Like a ghost..._  
  
Hank looked up towards the woman as she effortlessly helped Connor to sit up, despite the RK800 still looking _groggy_.  
  
"After our... little _talk_ , I figured that I might as well do a little bit of _tweaking_  on his systems."  
  
Hank's brows furrowed. "What the—what kinda tweaks? "  
  
"I needed to readjust Connor's parameter settings to adapt to his newly installed processors." She gave Hank a knowing smile. "As much as the RK800 and RK900's biocomponents were similar and quite compatible with each other, Connor's _original_ biocomponents would've still been slightly _dated_ , compared to RK900. Some reaction times might not be on par with the standard RK900 reactions, so the settings needed to be readjusted."

Amanda frowned. "I would've insisted that Connor remained with Elijah a bit longer. In order to fully check if his systems were completely fine. But since Connor insisted to accompany me..."

 _No-uh!,_ Hank immediately protested in his mind. He'd cringe at the thought of what _nonsense_ Kamski would do to Connor in his absence. He wouldn't have minded if Markus was around to take care of Connor for him, but without the other android...!

He glanced out towards the precinct, before walking out of the vehicle. Amanda took that cue to follow suit, alongside Connor. Just as he was about to circle the auto-taxi and head towards the entrance, Hank heard a loud banging sound behind him... and a familiar _cry_. He turned around to see Amanda staring curiously at the auto-taxi—and a hint of Connor's legs jutting out of the vehicle awkwardly. Hank went back to see Connor staring back at him, looking slightly confused. And he was also _blushing?_

"Haa... I seemed to have _miscalculated_ my approach," Connor said, before running a hand over his head. Hank snorted at the sight. Did Connor hit himself while walking out? He laughed, before offering his hand to the RK800 to help.

He glanced around to see Markus still hanging around with that Josh kid, the other two bodyguards somehow had taken leave during the few minutes when he took his eyes off them to tend to Connor. And Amanda had rejoined the RK900 to enter the precinct. 

xxx  
  
Inside, Hank led everyone towards the inner areas. There were still a few officers remaining, and some of the androids that joined the operation earlier had stayed behind to help. Hank shook his head. And he thought he told them to not work themselves too hard since their statuses as people (or even as DPD officers) were still unclear. Seems they're still sorting out the stuff they got from the tower.  
  
When Hank saw Fowler still present inside his glass-walled office, he ushered Amanda to accompany him along.

Markus eventually walked up to join them, as Hank shrugged and waited for the other android to get inside before closing the glass door behind him.

xxx

Connor blinked awkwardly towards Josh and RK900 before ushering them towards his and Hank's cubicle, grabbing an extra chair from the desk next to his.

"Err, take a seat?" he offered to the two, as Connor took a seat on Hank's chair. For some reason, he couldn't help feeling a sensation of having a 'lump' in his throat. Guess he couldn't help feeling nervous.

Connor turned around to see Captain Fowler, Hank, Amanda and Markus in a deep discussion. As much as he could try to increase his audio sensitivity to try listening in to their discussion, he couldn't help feeling that the action would be improper. 

_But what else he should do in the meantime?_

Connor looked around to see some of the other officers still working. Well, he could always help those officers out. _But what about Josh and RK900?_ He turned towards the two androids. Connor frowned as RK900 stared back at him. A thought crossed his mind as he felt compelled to want to thank the other android, yet as he was about to address the other... it occurred to him that the RK900 still didn't have a proper _name_.

_Should he ask the RK900 to find a name for himself? Should he **give** him a name?_

"Oh great! The plastic's multiplied!" Connor blinked as he turned around to see Gavin walking up towards their direction. But rather than looking at him, Gavin was staring back at _RK900_.

Gavin frowned. "And why the heck you changed clothes? Doesn't make you look any more impressive than you did before!"

Josh had stared at Gavin speechless, but the RK900 didn't seem bothered by it. Regardless, it bothered Connor a lot.

"That was quite rude, Detective Reed. I advise you to mind your manners. Please don't call my _brother_ or any other android by that term. It's already enough that you called me _that_ multiple times before."

Gavin rolled his eyes as he turned to look at him. But before the man could say any retort to counter Connor's comment earlier, Gavin let out a loud cry.

"Oh shit! What happened to your face!" the man cried out, before noticing the details on the uniform that Connor was still wearing. "W-wait! RK800..."

Gavin blinked dumbly before turning towards RK900. "...RK900, whut?" The man shook his head. "How would I know to tell the difference? You looked—I mean, the two of you _used_ to look the same! And how would I know what to call your other clone?"

Connor pressed his lips tightly together. Somehow, seeing Gavin again after he properly broke the restraints of his programming... made him want to express many things that he would never have said in the past. Guess now he could properly understand why Hank always said that Gavin is an asshole. Gavin IS an asshole. And assholes needed to be put to their proper place when needed.

"Conrad! My brother's name is Conrad! I expect that you'll remember that after this!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Minor musing:
> 
> It's something I recently thought about. Cos while trying to write Amanda as a neutral character, I had to wonder about some of the in-canon stuff that she'd ordered Connor to do. As in... if you manage to get Jericho killed off, and Connor being elected leader (in which, might also result with the remaining androids in camps that hadn't been deactivated yet, released) what's the likelihood (should Amanda really was controlling everything with/out Kamski's acting behind it) that 'that' was an attempt to _save_ the other androids while disguising it as an attempt to subdue the deviants? Cos really, the roundabout way of stuff happening was quite fishy. 
> 
> Of course, there's always the dark side interpretations of it being Cyberlife just wanna regain control of them and reset them.  But what if, ~~Cyberlife~~  Amanda/Kamski were actually decent? ~~As in... what if, Amanda is also influenced by rA9? lol~~


	21. Slow steps

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> STATUS ALERT: Amanda might have unlocked a function in one of the RK800 biocomponent compatible with the YK500's to display behaviours common in YK500 series in order to fully integrate with Connor's original self-repair system. ~~Oops?~~

Connor kept eyeing Gavin as the man continued busying himself at his desk. He wondered why the man hadn't started to pack and head home already, seeing that it's already getting quite late. And it surprised him that Gavin barely retaliated much when Connor burst out about Conrad. He had expected for the man to exclaim that he didn't care about RK900's name or pick another fight with him. But Gavin did nothing.  
  
It's either that Gavin felt intimidated with the presence of Josh and Conrad and the other androids... or he was THAT startled to see Connor telling him off _boldly_. Or something _else_ he wasn't aware of.

Well, it's not really a big issue.

 _Or maybe it's because Captain Fowler was still at his office and Hank had also sneaked a few glances at their direction..._  
  
Connor glanced back towards RK900 as he suddenly overcome by a feeling of embarrassment. Just earlier he thought about asking the android to try to pick up a suitable name for himself. But then Gavin popped up and he just blurted out the name without prompting.  
  
"Sorry. I shouldn't have blurted that out unthinkingly, but Gavin's a shit and I—if you disliked the name, you can just..."  
  
"It's fine. I did not mind being called that. I might as well take that name for my own."  
  
Connor blinked, as he took note of the calm way Conrad had replied back to him... and how he noticed that the other android's voice had been tuned a bit _lower_ than his. Conrad's voice was set at a lower pitch than his.  
  
Conrad tried to give him a smile, as the effort made him look slightly silly. Connor frowned. _Did I look like that to Hank too when I first tried to flash him a smile? That looked awkward._  
  
"My earlier observations revealed that having my voice sounding exactly as yours have made Lieutenant Hank Anderson feeling slightly  _uncomfortable_. I've consulted with Amanda about it and she has suggested on a solution. "  
  
Connor nodded. So _that_ was why.

"Are you all right?"

He blinked before turning towards Josh, who was sitting across of him. "Pardon?"

Josh just shrugged. "You still moved a bit sluggishly, even when you just had a new processor installed. I was just concerned."

Connor let out a weak smile. "It's because the new processor was slightly more _advanced_ than the ones I'm accustomed too. I haven't fully calibrated my systems yet to match up with the new processor speeds, so I may move slightly erratic until then."

"Need my help?"

"I can help too. That new processor was from my line after all," added Conrad.

Connor quickly shook his head. "It's okay, I'm fine. I can always do it later..." he immediately answered as Josh stood up anyway and walked around the desk towards him. Conrad stood up as well as the RK900 tried to get him to stand up. "I-I'm fine! You guys don't have to—"

"Their discussion looks like going to take a long time, so we might as well do something in the meantime."

Connor was about to argue a bit more, but then they ended up towards the charging stations anyway. And it's only then that Connor realized that some parts of the old android stations have been modified to include _chairs_ for one to sit on comfortably. He sighed.

"Fine. Do your worse..."

Josh chuckled at that retort as he and Conrad started taking out some tools and opening his cranial compartment to start working.

xxx

_**LOADING OS** _

_SYSTEM INITIALIZATION... **OK**_

_CHECKING BIOCOMPONENTS... **OK**_

_INITIALIZING BIOSENSORS... **OK**_

_INITIALIZING AI ENGINES... **OK**_

_MEMORY STATUS_

_**ALL SYSTEMS READY** _

Connor blinked.

"I see that you guys' been busy yourselves..."

He looked up to see Hank, Amanda and Markus walking towards them slowly. He got up to greet them.

"Is everything all right?" Josh spoke out as Markus shrugged at him.

"We somehow... managed to sort things out. Well, _most_ of it. We still had _a lot_ to do. Besides the discussion with the government about the law amendments to accommodate for the android rights, there's still the matter about the  _police records_ that many of us androids still have."

Josh frowned at that as Amanda stepped up towards them. "To which, Cyberlife would also try to help out in settling some of the procedures."

Connor turned to face Amanda again as the woman smiled. "It wouldn't be hard for the Cyberlife technicians to look into the old memory logs as well as the records on the main servers, so if there's any evidence that could clear the charges on the androids or incriminate them... we'll find and make use of them."

Markus nodded. "True. And if we want to be treated _equally_ as fellow living beings as humans do, we also need to be prepared to also face the consequences of our past actions as well."

Connor frowned. While he had been aware of his own capability to be able to upload his memories onto Cyberlife's cloud server, he was not sure that the other androids would be able to do the same thing. He blinked. But then again, aside from uploading all of his memories onto the cloud server... Connor had the ability to extract bits of his own memories and register them as _evidence_. Suppose the other androids also would be able to do that? Granted their memories weren't wiped out on a timely basis.

So it _would_ be _possible_ to acquire those old memories in order to be used as _evidence_ in defence of the androids that were being accused of any crimes.

Connor felt a smile creeping up onto his lips as he looked up towards Markus and Josh. He recalled seeing the police records that were related to them, alongside many other androids that fled their owners and being accused of committing atrocious crimes. If what Amanda said was possible, then it won't be hard for them to _reinvestigate_ those old cases and determine whether or not the androids had committed a crime willingly or in self-defence. And if the innocence of the many androids could be cleared, it would also _not_ be too hard to make an appeal to the government to justify the reasoning to grant these _deviant_ androids their personhood and rights!

_That... should be good, right?_

Connor's smile wavered as his mind went back to the HK400 that he once interrogated. He turned his head towards the direction of the pathway that leads to the precinct's evidence locker. He thought of the few android remains that had been stored inside the locker. (Provided that Perkins hadn't taken them away later.) To be able to reinvestigate the old cases would mean... that he could also try to clear _that_ HK400's crime. He still felt slightly guilty for that android and it had startled him when the android had smashed his head on the glass wall.

_As much as the HK400 could no longer be reactivated, perhaps there was still something he could do for that deactivated android. And maybe... even for **Daniel**._

"Oi! Earth to Connor! Are you there?"

Connor gasped aloud as he looked up to see Hank staring at him, concern written in his face. He smiled weakly at him. "Sorry, Hank. My mind... _wandered_ a bit."

Hank gave him a suspicious look. "Nothing _too bad_ , is it?" And he was reminded that he still had his LED on, so if there was anything that bothered him... everyone could easily tell what kind of emotional state he'd have. Connor just shrugged helplessly to his partner, silently hoping that the old man would not worry too much.

"Geez..."

Everyone turned towards the voice, as Gavin suddenly froze at the exact position where he's been standing. Connor stared at the man curiously, as Gavin appeared to be... _flustered_ at the attention he's drawing to himself?

"Ya got a problem there, Gavin?"

Gavin just shrugged at them hastily before heading out towards the exit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gavin: Dude! How could you stand... looking at that _thing_?  
>  Hank: Watch yer mouth, Gavin. You call Connor by the proper pronouns now! And my boy is adorable, so scram!  
> Gavin: W-wha... how could you...?  
> Hank: My boy. is. _adorable_. Period. No objections. He even had a cute ahoge to boot!  
>  Connor: Hank? What's... an _ahoge_?  
>  Hank: ( ͡• ͜ʖ ͡• ) Shit... don't ask!
> 
> lol


	22. Attachment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gavin would probably still have some issues before he could get used to Connor's new look 8D. And suppose, for some people who were unfamiliar with the term ahoge, it basically means 'foolish hair' and is a common trope in anime/manga. And really, Connor's ahoge IS quite silly.
> 
> It occurred to me that Connor/Bryan didn't actually browse the e-mag at Carlos Ortiz's house properly to see that article about the android spying business. So, I had to improvise.

They parted with Markus and Josh as they left the precinct, and Hank had offered to give Amanda and Conrad a ride back to the Cyberlife Tower. And it was there now... that Connor had stood silently, eyeing the first place that he used to refer to as his _home_.   
  
While the Tower was not _exactly_ a proper place to be referred to as a home, the Tower _had_ been the place where he used to return back to _occasionally_... during the time he had been assigned to the DPD. As much as he himself did not really have any attachment to the place, given the turn of events during the past few days... he couldn't help feeling _reluctant_ to leave.  
  
A hand was pressed on his left shoulder as Connor turned around to see Amanda. The woman smiled at him weakly.  
  
"You should head back _home_. You _liked_ that detective a lot, aren't you?"  
  
Connor stared back at her, alarmed. "But Amanda! I should—perhaps it would be better if I _stayed_ here. I could help... with things."  
  
Amanda chuckled. "I still have RK9— _Conrad_ with me. And _Elijah_ would be coming tomorrow, alongside the many Chloes that he kept by his side. I should be able to manage it by myself."  
  
She smiled. "Besides, staying with me wasn't what you _desired_ most. Isn't it?"  
  
Connor could feel some bit of Thirium started to gather on the surface of the synthetic skin on his cheeks. He might also have sensed that the cheeks had gone warm, even if _that_ didn't make any logical sense. Since he's not exactly _human_ , no matter the alteration Amanda had given him to look more human-like than he was before.  
  
"I know that you felt a certain degree of _responsibility_ for this situation, but it'll be _fine_."  
  
Connor frowned at that. For some reason, it suddenly felt as if Amanda was _pushing him away_. And he _didn't like_ it. While before, he would have liked it to become free of Amanda's grip on him—but now that he _knew_ that Amanda actually _does_ care about him, he didn't want to lose the connection he had with her. And Amanda had already _removed_ the copy of her _avatar_ inside of him...  
  
He shook his head.  
  
"N-no... I don't—am I no longer _allowed_ to see you?"  
  
It was a ridiculous thought—but suddenly he had an unreasonable sensation of _panic_ of being _disowned_ so suddenly. Not that he _hated_ to go live at Hank's place—but this... there's something about _this situation_ that he didn't like.  
  
_Must he make a choice? Between Amanda and Hank, did he have to give up one to be with the other? Was this why Amanda was pushing him away?_  
  
Amanda smiled. "Silly Connor. _Of course_ , you'll be able to see me again, _anytime_ that you choose."  
  
Connor's face lightened up immediately. "Really? T-then I... when the weather was much better, can I take a walk with you? Like a _real_ walk, not like in the Zen Garden."  
  
Amanda nodded. "Of course. _Anytime_. You'll always be welcomed here," she sighed before urging Connor to leave. "So go now. You can't let Detective Anderson _freeze_ just because you couldn't make up your own mind. Go _home_ ,"   
  
After a few more urging, Connor finally relented and walked towards Hank's car. To which, Hank had no qualms to express his dissatisfaction right away.  
  
"Geez, you're such a momma's boy."

Connor stared at Hank blankly, before glancing over towards Amanda... who seemed to understand something that he didn't. Without thinking, Connor pulled Amanda close into a hug.

xxx

Hank drove the car back towards the direction of home, before sparing a few glances towards Connor. The kid had been leaning his head towards the side of the door, staring lazily towards the side window. Presumably to still keep his eyes towards the tower, as he had noticed Connor doing it earlier.

He frowned. Recalling Connor's behaviour prior to them going to Kamski's, he'd thought that Connor really _disliked_ his handler. But then after that sudden hijack, and later on the unexpected change of motivations... he started wondering if Connor's relationship with Amanda was much more _complicated_ than what he assumed initially. He had likened Amanda's relationship to Connor to one of an _overcontrolling mother figure_ as a jest, but now he wondered if that was really true.

Seeing Amanda up-close earlier, and hearing her talk to Fowler of measures that should be done to ensure the safety of _both humans and androids_ alike... Hank had started to see another side of Amanda that he hasn't seen before. Amanda... did seem to place priority on the well-being of the humans  _first_ , while it also appeared that she had gradually considering placing the deviant androids with the same level of treatment. While she did seemed to be quite rigid when it comes to the law, he could see that she was also a _realist_.

In which, her stance on things balanced out Markus's, who was quite the _optimist_. He hadn't really thought about the long list of police records on the deviants to mean anything after Markus's revolution, but he realized that it would still matter. Because even if public opinions on the androids had been positive so far, things might still get ugly if those police records were not addressed. Positive receptions or not, if the 'crimes' that the androids have done _prior_ to the revolutions were not dealt with—even with _valid reasons_ —there would certainly be _dissatisfied_ people who would raise issues when efforts in acknowledging the androids' statuses start. In which will, in turn, bring about _more_ conflicts and problematic issues.

That android Amanda was quite impressive to have considered all these minor details. Hank glanced back towards Connor.

"What's wrong, Connor?"

The RK800 lifted his head towards him, almost lazily.

"There should be something _more_... that I could _do_ to help."

"Why're you being so tense for? You're not the only one who has to bear _responsibility_ for everything," he said, before taking a turn towards the city roads. "And you've already done _enough_."

Hank stopped the car as they reached an intersection with a traffic light, and turned his attention towards Connor. "Were you worried about Amanda? Don't think that she could handle all of this by herself? Think she couldn't be trusted?"

He sighed. "To be honest I was _confused_ about your relationship with her. I thought you're _scared_ of her... but then, later on, it's like you couldn't keep yourself apart from her. Should I be concerned?"

Connor shook his head. "Amanda... _isn't_ really a bad person. She really cared about humans, and she never treated me badly." The RK800 shrugged. "Except that time when she tried to force me to kill Markus. But that's because she thought that it was too _risky_ to allow the deviants walk about freely without supervision."

He glanced back towards Hank. "Markus might have been peaceful in his approach, but that alone wasn't a full guarantee that the rest of the androids were all peaceful. She needed to consider all possibilities..."

Hank leaned over to reach out and patted Connor's head. "But you managed to _change_ her mind, right? The hell you think you haven't done enough?"

Connor's eyes widened as he finished speaking out his thoughts, but then his expressions reverted back to being troubled. Hank sighed. He might as well, _distract_ the kid with _something else_.

The lights turned green as Hank resumed driving. Even when the traffic barely exists at this time, there's no reason why he should disobey the traffic laws. He took a turn towards the residential area, as he navigated his way towards home.

"Sumo missed you... yanno? He's been whining too much this morning when I came back to check on him. If not because I've been dead tired after all the fiasco at Kamski's yesterday, I wouldn't even be able to sleep a wink at all."

A weak smile, Hank managed to spy from the corner of his eye.

"Sumo... huh? I'm sorry that I've caused you some trouble." He started to frown again before turning to check on Connor again. Connor tried to _force_ himself to smile brightly to his benefit. "Ah, well... we're going back to see Sumo! I missed him!"

Hank eyed Connor a moment longer before turning his attention back to driving.

_Well, maybe he'll approach the matter much later..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry if this fic or any other from this series had too many hugs.
> 
> Connor: I like dogs. And hugs.  
> Me/Hank: ლ(▀̿Ĺ̯▀̿ ̿ლ)
> 
> And I'll be honest. Like Hank, I'm not really good at this personal stuff? But let's see how it goes from here. This thing is nearing the end anyway.


	23. Hope

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this is slow. Since we already got past the climax part of the plot, so the rest of the plot would just be going to gradually slow down towards a conclusion. Well, I need to remember to conclude this piece aside from Alstromeria after all. XD
> 
> Minor MarkusXNorth, I guess. But don't think I'm really gonna make them as really into each other. In-game relationship aside... I'm gonna make them backtrack a bit... cos yeah, all the intense in-game stuff might have made them think they really in-love... but let me slow things down for them.

The moment they reached New Jericho, North was already _waiting_ for them. She immediately ran up towards them, looking distraught.  
  
Markus frowned. "What's wrong, North?"   
  
"A message from Cyberlife just arrived. I'm not sure how they managed to take over our communication system, but they _did_ and _demanded_ that a number of our people come to the Tower tomorrow." North shivered slightly. "I have a _bad feeling_ about this."  
  
" _Demanded?_ Are you sure you heard _that_ right?"  
  
North just shook her head. "Well, actually it's more of a _request_ , but I can't really _trust_ them right now I—"  
  
Markus let out a sigh of relief as Josh ushered the two of them to get back into the old church. He smiled as he reached the safety of their newly established _base_.  
  
"That was quick. I didn't expect that they would start moving things around so soon."  
  
North frowned as she glanced between Josh and Markus. Simon also walked over towards them as soon as he saw them.  
  
Markus shrugged at them. "Don't worry. Cyberlife is our _ally_ now."  
  
"Ally? What did you mean— _how?_ "  
  
Markus just shrugged. "You could thank _Connor_ for that. He managed to convince his _handler_ to have some faith in us deviants and that we're not up to anything bad. I had a bit of a discussion with _her_ , as well as with the chief police of the Detroit PD so we manage to sort things out."  
  
Simon also frowned. "What do you mean— _sort it all out?_ How did you suddenly manage to do this—?"  
  
"Yeah," North exclaimed, "I thought you're with Connor? And what's the deal about _that_ that you needed Josh's help? How _did_ you end up dealing with Cyberlife? That's aside, where's Connor?"  
  
Markus just shrugged again. "It's a l _ong story_ , I'll tell you later. Bottom line, Connor did us another _miraculous favour_ and we caught ourselves some big break. We could _breathe_ slightly easier now and just focus on the discussion about the law amendments regarding androids."  
  
"But Markus, what about the _summons?_ " Simon asked again.  
  
Josh just gave them a reassuring nod before placing a hand on Simon's shoulder.  
  
"Don't worry about that, " said the PJ500.   
  
"It's just to resolve the issue regarding the many police cases involving deviants that were recorded. We needed to clear all that out before pushing in for the new legislation, or else we might get some interference from some of the anti-android groups."

Simon glanced towards Markus as he finished his explanation before being led away by Josh. Markus turned his attention towards North. The WR400 had looked anxious.

"Markus, what do you mean about the police records? You mean... the police—the humans are going to reinvestigate all the past cases involving androids? And then what? What is Cyberlife gonna do with that? Are they using that to regain control of us?" she cried out. Her voice kept going higher and higher to the point of hysterics when she finished talking.

Markus grabbed her arms on both sides as he tried to calm her down. "North... it's okay. Nothing bad gonna happen to you... or to the rest of us."

"But Markus—!"

"It's okay," Markus reassured her again. "Even if the cops or the people from Cyberlife needed to extract your past memories in order to reinvestigate that case where you killed the man that assaulted you, I'm sure that they would do their best to take care of those evidence pieces and make sure that it won't be mishandled."

Markus smiled weakly as he saw that North had begun to calm down. And then she glanced back up again. "Then Markus, does that mean... that you're also—"

He nodded, fully aware of what she's about to say. "Yes, I'll also be joining you guys to deal with the reinvestigations. I saw the police records on myself, even though my face wasn't in their database." Markus shrugged at her as North looked concerned. "I'm just glad. Finally now, after all the fighting ends... I'll get to clear my name and not being identified as the android that caused my _foster father's_ death. This could be the start of even better things to come."

Markus thought about Leo and that time when he had briefly met the man after visiting Carl's grave. When the truth comes out, would Leo get in trouble for the lies he said? He sighed to himself. Well, he'll cross that bridge when the time comes.

"The fight isn't over yet," Markus looked up at her as North's voice snapped him back to reality. "It's still won't be easy... for you— _us_ —to try to achieve peaceful coexistence with the humans—"

Markus nodded. "But it's a start. If we can get the humans to see our sides of the story and understand the reason why we wanted to be free and be treated equally alongside them, perhaps even the groups that have hated androids all these times too would be able to change their opinions towards us."

North cocked her head at him before reaching out towards Markus's hand and intertwining their fingers together.

"I hope so."


	24. Restless

Hank greeted the morning with a loud grunt. 

Grabbing the alarm clock lying on the small cabinet beside the bed, he surprised himself to see that he woke up quite early at 10 am. He let out a snort at the small clock, before putting it aside. Hank sat up before rubbing the faint headache lingering at his temple. Considering how late he slept last night due to Connor, it's a great surprise that he managed to get up this early.

Well, he hadn't touched the last remaining booze that he had left, so that might be one reason...

Hank got up from the bed, groaning as he felt his bones cracked and his muscles straining to carry his weight around. He did a brief stretch before walking out of his bedroom.

When he walked in into the living room Hank paused for a moment, noting that Connor was still lying on the couch. Presumably still 'sleeping'. He let out a brief snort at the thought of Connor sleeping in late but then frowned as he thought of last night. Considering that so many things had happened the day before, it crossed his mind to wonder how everything seemed to weigh on the RK800 now.

_I mean, he seemed to be okay yesterday... until later on last night after we left the Tower..._

Hank slowly approached the couch and took a peek to see that Connor indeed was still _asleep_. Or trying very hard to _appear_ asleep. He smiled weakly before running his hand over Connor's hair.

"Hey, wake up kid. Don't think I didn't notice you faking it."

Connor let out a soft groan before stirring and staring up towards him with half-lidded eyes. If Hank didn't know any better or unaware of the presence of a circular LED on the other side of Connor's temple, he would've brushed this off as just the usual behaviour for kids who stayed up too late past their bedtimes. _But since this was Connor we're talking about..._

"Are you still so mopey at the fact _your mom_ didn't need you to help with the other androids' businesses?"

Hank found himself laughing heartilly—despite still being quite groggy himself—as Connor started _pouting_ at him like a 3-year-old kid.

"Hank, why are you so mean—", Connor let out a groan before sitting up. The android frowned before looking up. "—and why are you referring to Amanda as _my mother?_ "

For some reason, Connor's cluelessness amused him so much so Hank just continued smiling widely at the kid. Even though he shouldn't be smiling so widely—been a long time since he'd stared at his own reflection as he smiled and he remembered scaring a few kids in the past when he did—but who cares?

Connor made a face at him before looking away.  _Was his smiling face look THAT bad?_

Hank let out a sigh before getting up and sat beside Connor properly. He extended his arm over Connor's shoulders and pulled the android to lean beside him. 

"What's wrong? I thought you'd lightened up a bit last night, playing with the video games. Did it bug you so much to _not_ be a part of the action for once?"

Connor made a motion as if he was making his version of a tantrum display. Hank chuckled as he thought he heard Connor said something along the line of... 'I don't like being idle. Or _useless_.'

"Who said that you were?" Hank spoke before turning around to face Connor, pulling his arm away from the kid. He smiled before ruffling Connor's hair again for good measure. "Can't believe it was just yesterday that I came rushing back to Kamski's to check on you, only to see you getting half-busted up and fixed again in a matter of hours."

Connor just shrugged at that as Hank frowned. "One would think that after all that _fiasco_ , you'd want to take a break _away_ from the chaos for a while."

Connor gave him a curious look. "Why? I've already been repaired and the issues that had been the reason for our visit to Kamski had been resolved, so there shouldn't be a problem for me to get back to work. Even though technically my position as a detective currently are void until the new legislation regarding androids were established, so I can't _exactly_ get back to work. But I'm still _functioning_ now, so I don't understand why I would need to... _take a break_."

Hank just shook his head at the android. "Didn't you say before about you needing to _recapilate_  or reverberate—"

"Recalibrate!" Connor corrected as Hank nodded. 

"Yeah _that_ —I thought you said you haven't finished doing that, so now you got the time for it ya?"

"I've already done that... _yesterday_ —" Hank had almost sworn, "—Josh and Conrad helped me out while you've been at Captain Fowler's office."

Hank rolled his eyes at him, before recalling. "Oh, geez. Was that what you guys been up to yesterday?" He sighed aloud, "Do ya even _need_ a reason to just relax for no reason? You barely got your head blown apart yester—come to think, why'd you pull a stunt like that all of a sudden?"

Connor's eyes widened. "You— _heard_ about that?"

Hank nodded. "Got that info directly from your clo— _Conrad_. And I heard the _rest_ from yer new friend, Josh. So are _you_ gonna explain it to me?"

Hank continued eyeing Connor as the RK800's shoulders went slack.

"I'm sorry Hank. I was acting too rash."


	25. Distant

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TMW you inadvertently end up writing 3 diff fics (with 1 bonus ficlet) that inter-connected to each other and you only actually finished ONE of them. Sorry for the long wait. Some scenes needed to be written first on one end before another part could be written on the other end.
> 
> Not really in my best form so this chapter may be a bit... lacking. lel

Connor turned his glance towards Hank again as the man still wore the haunted look on his face. It made him feel bad for making the old man worry. As if Hank didn't already have enough concerns to worry about without adding _himself_ into the equation.  
  
"It's not your fault, Hank."  
  
"But it _was_ , isn't it? You wouldn't have done that shit if you haven't found out about the shitty game I played with myself. _That_ gave you ideas."  
  
Connor shook his head hastily. "No, it's not. It was not because of you—"  
  
"Then why did you do it?"  
  
Connor hung his head low. "I was... _stupid_. I only wanted to stall for some time to save Markus," he explained before shrugging. "I figured that Amanda might have a specific reason to still come after me... so I took the chance."  
  
"Which includes _actually_ shooting yourself point-blank?"  
  
"I just panicked!" Connor exclaimed before realizing that the sudden emotional response had caused a rapid surge of Thirium towards his cheeks. "I-I... _felt_ that Markus was way too _important_ to be sacrificed, and I... didn't think that I was that _important_ enough to have Markus risk his life for me."  
  
"So you did feel suicidal..."  
  
"I'm not!" he tried to counter.  
  
"But you did still consider yourself _unimportant,_ " Hank pressed further before sighing.

Before Connor could say anything else, the man continued, "Connor. Never think that you're any less important than any other people—humans or androids—in this world. You're also someone whose existence mattered to others. You're _not_ replaceable. Don't think that no one won't care about you, enough for you to consider sacrificing yourself."

Connor smiled weakly at him. "Thank you, Hank." The RK800 blinked as a new thought crossed his mind. "Still, that line's pretty _rich_... coming from _you_."

Hank nodded. "Yeah, I know. Guess who came bargin' into my life to set me straight from my _own_ stupidity? Apparently having random nosy people bargin' into yer life and settin' you straight is a _trendy_ thing now."  
  
Connor could only smile at that.

xxx

His little quip drew a smile from Connor, and that made his heart feel slightly lighter. Strange how nowadays he couldn't even bear seeing the android before him to be miserable for a brief second. Just how much affection had he invested in this boy? Hank mentally shook his head before shifting himself to sit closer towards the boy.

Seeing Connor still looking so troubled, he had to wonder just how much of an emotional burden the kid was carrying. Was it really THAT hard to tell him what's bothering the kid's head?

He sighed.

"Take your time then," he said again. "When you feel that you're ready to talk to me about it, then you do it then. I'll wait. No matter how long it'll take."

Connor gave him a sad glance before mouthing his thanks. Hank let out another long sigh before grabbing the tv remote that was lying at the corner of the couch. "Maybe we should watch some tv in the meantime—"

Hank turned on the telly just in time for a news segment to turn on a different topic. It took him a while before his mind could register _what_ the news segment was about...

_/—from the public as Cyberlife finally step out from their long silence regarding the recent android revolution incident —/_

"Ah shit—" Hank exclaimed, trying to quickly change the channel before Connor stopped him. The RK800 shook his head.

"No, I wanna see this..." he said, before turning his attention back towards the telly.

_/—been seen gathering towards the Cyberlife Tower but for now, the situation remained peaceful. On the other hand—"/_

"They sure didn't waste much time to pick up on their messes, heh—" Hank commented as Connor quickly shushed him. Hank made a face before turning towards the screen...

_/—revealed that prior to the protests, several of the board members that had been part of the Cyberlife management had somehow disappeared without a trace. In response to that, the former CEO of Cyberlife, Elijah Kamski had stepped in to take control of the situation—/_

_/"On behalf of the company I'd like to convey my deepest apology for everything that happened in the past week."/_

The image of the montage recording of the earlier protest was immediately replaced by a recording of Kamski during an earlier press conference. Hank frowned at the image of the young CEO.

_/"I have to admit that the situation could have been dealt better if I had still been in charge of the company, but rest assured that I'll do my best to make sure that everything turns out for the best for everyone."/_

_/"As to the president's statement a few nights ago regarding the possibility that androids could be a new intelligent species on this earth beside us, we at Cyberlife would also do our best to try to understand the current situation. Even now, we've been gathering enough statements from the androids of Jericho to understand their reasoning for their past actions, and we'll go through every single report to make sure that all of them were handled with care. To add to this, Cyberlife had already requested the aid of the local law enforcement—"/_

Without warning, Connor jumped at him before wrenching out the TV remote from his hand and turned it off. Hank stared towards Connor, curiously. Said android was now pouting angrily at the now turned off TV.

"...Connor? What's wrong?" he asked, even though Hank was already aware of what was making Connor so riled up.

The man sighed again. Perhaps he should take Connor out somewhere today, just to keep his mind off Cyberlife. But before he could say anything, Connor went back to lying on his side of the couch. Hank frowned.

"Connor? Son?" he asked before realizing that Connor had forced himself into stasis mode again. Nothing Hank could do could make the kid snap out of his tantrum, let alone give out any other reaction.

Hank just shook his head before reaching out to run his hand over Connor's synthetic hair...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, kinda belatedly have a line of thought about the other board of directors in Cyberlife, so I figured that I might as well have them running off, ditching the fort and left 'Amanda' to deal with the aftermaths, good or bad. So that might explain why Cyberlife's actions in the game get very wonky etc.
> 
> Might end up editing some parts in past chapter regarding the circumstances of Elijah leaving Cyberlife. But that can come later once I sort this fic's closing.


	26. Insecurity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Few more chapters to go... cos there IS a connecting plotline in between the 3 current main fic arc in this series XD

It was raining... in the garden. Yet unlike the usual peaceful _feeling_ he felt whenever it rained, the emotion that he felt right now was—No, that wasn't true. Rain didn't always give him the feeling of _peace_ all the time. There was a time when rain made him feel somewhat... _miserable_ before.

Yes, that should be it. He was feeling quite miserable right now. Like that time back then when he left the confines of his first crime scene; when he and Hank escorted Carlos Ortiz's android back to the station.

Connor thought about his current predicament. _Well, why wouldn't he feel so miserable right now?_

Connor replayed back the memory of his interrogation with that android—and gosh, he still hadn't got to know the name of that HK400; if the android even _gave_ himself a name because his own owner refused to give him one. He recalled how that android replied at his last question on why the android remained at the attic weeks after the owner's demise.

_"I didn't know what to do. For the first time, there was no one there to tell me. I was scared."_

Connor snorted by himself. Trust himself to recall that case to mind just when he had been feeling a bit lost and miserable himself. It was indeed very _alarming_ to not have some kind of directive to keep yourself in line.

_This was the second time that he felt so lost, ever since that raid on Jericho..._

He sighed—or made a close rendition of what a sigh was—before heading towards the centre of the garden. The rose trellis was still around. Yet despite that, there was no sign of Amanda anywhere.

Connor made a face as he sat by himself on a nearby bench.

He thought of the news report earlier. From the sound of things, the situation over at the tower was quite hectic. Not to mention everyone at New Jericho must've also been busy themselves. Yet, here he was at Hank's having no purpose but sit around doing _nothing_.

_He was really THAT useless, huh?_

For the past few hours after Hank had gone asleep, a part of him had been waiting anxiously. That despite what Amanda said the night before, she might still _need him_ to help out with matters in Cyberlife. He might just be a simple RK800 compared to Conrad's RK900, but that doesn't mean that he's now obsolete! No, that shouldn't be why! 

Connor sighed again. He shouldn't be having these insecure thoughts inside his mind right now... but somehow he couldn't help it. For many hours until now, Amanda hadn't called or sent any message to him. Which made him wonder again if Amanda's words to him before about him to still matter to her held any truth in it.

_Was he really so useless to her now?_

"Of course not, Connor. You're not a useless android to me."

Connor let out a gasp, just as the rain inside the Zen garden suddenly stopped and was replaced with a pinkish pre-dawn environment.

He turned his head to his side to find Amanda seated beside him, smiling in amusement. "I was wondering if I was mistaken about seeing alerts that indicated that you've been trying to contact me. But then, I _noted_ that you've brought down your custom firewall."

Connor blinked dumbly towards her before shrugging uncomfortably at her. "Sorry about that. I didn't mean to... _interrupt_ you or anything, in case you were busy." For some reason, Connor felt his face as if it just heated up. Or his whole body, to be fair. Was this what humans feel when they felt embarrassed? His emotional responses tend to feel much more intense while he's in this digital Zen Garden after all, so his reactions here might as well be the most humanlike he'd ever be.

And he didn't even _recall_ making an attempt to contact Amanda earlier, so either it was really accidental or his heightened senses and concerns had himself calling for Amanda unconsciously without his main consciousness being aware of it. Now, that seemed pretty silly. He's an RK800, not just some silly older model androids who gets clingy on people unreasonably. He should've known better than to behave in an undignified way like this!

"It's fine. You didn't cause me any kind on inconvenience to worry about."

Connor looked up towards the woman as Amanda smiled at him. He immediately voiced out the thoughts that's been bothering him for a while.

"Do I really have _nothing_ I could do to help with the current situation in Cyberlife?"

Amanda just shrugged. "Not really," Connor's shoulders fell as he heard that, "—but it's mostly because you've already _done_ enough. There's no reason for me to have you do anything when I could do it myself."

Connor stared back towards Amanda in confusion. "Wh-what do you mean?"

Amanda just shook her nose towards him. "You've already shown me the path and ways to pursue it beforehand, I merely following it through. I've already made you do plenty before, I might as well _relieve_ that burden off you and take care of the rest."

Connor's eyes widened as his processors started forming a new conclusion. "Wait, you mean... you haven't been leaving me out because I was _unneeded_ —?"

Again, Connor felt that surge of embarrassment coming back to him. He had been so silly, and all that was because he had felt so insecure...

"Yet, there was still something that I still need to figure out. Regarding the androids that have already been decommissioned and rendered inoperable and irreparable, I've been wondering how should their remains be treated. The ones from the recent operations as well as the ones already in the junkyards."

Connor cocked his head towards her. "The decision about that wasn't made yet?" he asked as Amanda shook her head.

"The vote on whether to have them recycled or left alone was almost tied. And there's also a question regarding androids that could still be salvageable yet choose to cease to being activated." Amanda frowned. "I'm already not favouring the second option, yet by how things are going—having those empty shells collecting space wasn't entirely environmentally viable either."

Amanda blinked. "That reminds me, that I do still need to resolve the matter of retrieving the remains still stored at the station..."

"I'll do it!" Connor immediately offered before another thought crossed his mind. "Uhm, Amanda... that aside, would it be possible for me to take away one piece of 'evidence' from the DPD as my own?"

That earned him a frown. "Why would you ask for that—?" she asked.

Connor could see Amanda's eyes studying him before looking away. Half of him hoped that she didn't notice himself clenching his hands a bit too tightly. After a moment's silence, Amanda got up from the bench.

"Very well, I'll inform the retrieval team."


	27. Back to Normal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost forgot to post this chapter, so might as well.

Connor blinked as Hank's living room came back to view. He checked back his internal clock and determined that barely an hour had passed since he went into the Zen Garden. He turned his head around just as his sensors detected a sound, and caught sight of Hank just in time to see the man walking out of his bedroom.

"Are you going somewhere? " he asked, as Hank flashed him an apologetic look before grabbing his badge from the side table.

"Sorry son, Fowler just called. Damn Cyber's techs suddenly calling to clear up the lockers so I gotta come over to sign the papers for it." The old man grabbed his shoes as he headed to the door. "Won't be out too long, so stay put here—"

Connor got up as soon as he could. Amanda must've made the request as soon as he told her about it.

"Wait, I'm coming with you!"

Hank paused for a moment, studying the RK800 carefully before shrugging.

"Sure, go change out into some decent clothes or something—oh wait, I forgot. Let me dig through my old clothes stash. See if I can put you on something much more _decent_ —" said the man before turning back towards his bedroom.

Connor looked down at himself and recalled that he had a change of outfit last night after they got back home. Hank had given him his old t-shirt to change out of his usual uniform for some reason. Not that he really minded it, since he didn't really have anything else to wear.

He stared blankly at his right shoulder that was exposed due to the fact that the T-shirt was still a bit _too big_ for him to wear.

_Why couldn't he just go to the precinct in this? He really can't understand why people cared so much about the idea of modesty._

Connor's musing was disrupted suddenly by a bunch of clothes that just dropped out of nowhere on top of him. He glanced out to see Hank giving him a knowing look.

"Go change into those. They should look better on you than that plain ol' tee," said Hank. Just as Connor was about to lift the shirt he's wearing, Hank hastily dragged him towards the bathroom and shoved him inside.

"Oh my God kid, don't do that in the open!"

xxx

The precinct seemed to have already gone back to its usual activity as if the android revolution that Markus started a few days ago did not happen. Then again, on the way here from Hank's house, Connor had already seen that some of the city's street had come back to life. He could see humans walking down the streets freely again, unlike a few nights ago where all of the roads around him had been empty and not a sign of life could be seen. Connor couldn't even see any sign of broken fixtures or any other signs of destruction that was left from the last incident. Someone or some group must have been hard at work last night, cleaning up the city and made it look as it has before.

 _Did Markus arrange for this?_ He couldn't imagine any normal group of human to be able to do such feat at this speed. Anyway, it did look like a lot of the local Detroit residents had popped back out and resumed their daily activities.

Connor jumped as he felt a hand slapping his back. He turned to see Hank snorting at him. "What're you doing zoning out over here? Go on, you must've wanted to do something over here... right? Don't worry about me, just go do your thing."

"Ah, right..." said Connor as he headed towards the evidence locker room.


	28. Surreal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Been taking a break from resuming this fic, so forgive me for the long wait. This chapter's draft had been left unfinished ever since the last time I updated and I've been trying to figure out how I wanna approach this scene. But then my muse came back again so here's the new update!

Connor found himself standing dumbfounded in front of the evidence locker room. As much as he's been informed earlier that there'd be several Cyberlife technicians coming over to retrieve the androids kept in the lockers, Connor still found it odd to see so many people inside it at one time.

But then again, the only other time he had come to this room was _that evening_ when he'd sneaked inside to get information on Jericho.

"Oh, Connor! Good to see you again!"

Connor blinked before turning his head towards the voice. A familiar PJ500 walked over towards him as Connor recognized him to be the one called Josh. He smiled weakly at the PJ500 before shaking the former's hand.

"How are you today? Your system's running fine?"

Connor cocked his head at the other android as he spoke. "My system's running at an optimum speed. You should know that after all, since you helped with the readjustments and recalibrations of my systems last night."

Josh let out an awkward laugh. "Well, I wanted to make sure anyway. Since before this, I haven't actually _done_ a lot of programming works, prior to me working with you. I mean, while I did have a module on that installed in my own system, I haven't actually tampered with another android's core programming. So I can't help feeling nervous about that. In case I messed up something vital."

Connor let out a shrug. "Well, I can understand that." He turned around and blinked, as he tried to take note of what the other techs have been doing. So far, besides the items placed at the centre of the locker, all of the damaged androids have been taken down from their respective stands.

Amongst the many big boxes lying scattered all around the room, Connor could spot a tuft of _blond hair_ peeking out of one of it.

"Excuse me," said Connor to Josh as he rushed over towards that particular box.

xxx

He could hear Josh let out a faint gasp from behind him as the PJ500 followed him close by. Connor turned to face the other android.

"Do you know this android?" he asked as Josh shook his head.

"No, but I have a _friend_ who was of a similar model."

Connor nodded as he recalled his past logs about a certain 'Simon'. _Oh._

"Is there something wrong about this PL600?"

Connor blinked rapidly before resuming his attention towards Josh. "Ah, no..." he cried out hastily. "It's just... this guy had been the first case that I've been tasked with. He took a young girl hostage... killed her father and few officers that tried to pacify him. I managed to save the girl but..."

Josh let out a small smile before giving the box another brief glance.

"Was this it? The piece of 'evidence' that you wanted to take?"

Connor gave Josh a puzzled look. The PL500 just snorted.

"I got your ma's message just as I arrived at this precinct so I've been waiting for you for a while."

"Oh!" the RK800 let out a gasp before his face flushed red all of a sudden.

"Why did every one kept saying that Amanda's my mum?"

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: If there's any odd wordings and typos, do try to alert me about it. Since half the time I'm typing parts of the fic thru mobile and then transfer it to the word processor and then did several readthroughs before posting, sometimes I tend to miss any mistakes and I forgot about them when I noticed them on the phone and can't edit.
> 
> As usual, I welcome any comments and kudos even if I may rarely address them in the notes. Thank you for all the support.


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